All political candidates pound the pavement, but not many do it in running shoes.
“Hi, I’m Michael DeVito. I’m literally running for Congress,” DeVito says, greeting a surprised teenager named Justin Smith on a Staten Island Sidewalk, “and my team says that if I want to get my runs in every day I have to go out and introduce myself to the community. Do you see yourself voting?”
The 45-year-old youth counselor, US Marine veteran and marathon runner has been crisscrossing Staten Island, breaking his stride to hand out flyers, talk to local residents about their concerns, and make his pitch for job-training programs and universal healthcare.
DeVito is trying to pull away from a crowded field of candidates, but he has a steep climb ahead — and only about $3,000 in his campaign war chest. Six men are vying for the Democratic nomination. None has held elected office before, and none is widely known.
On Staten Island and in a handful of Brooklyn neighborhoods that make up the 11th Congressional District, the Democratic primary has remained largely under the radar — while a rancorous fight between current and former Republican congressmen has been making headlines.
This is an area that supported Donald Trump in 2016 by 10 points. It has sent Republicans to Congress for all but two of the last 35 years. But Democrats are hoping that anti-Trump enthusiasm is widespread enough here to flip the seat in November.
Assemblyman Michael Cusick said it’s a good sign that so many people are throwing their hats in the ring.
“We’ve never had six candidates who wanted to run for congress,” Cusick said. “I think people know this is a winnable seat.”
Most of the attention has been focused on Max Rose, 31, a combat veteran who was injured in Afghanistan and is currently a captain in the Army Reserves. Rose attended Wesleyan University and the London School of Economics; worked for Cory Booker, Hakeem Jefferies and Ken Thompson; and was chief of staff at a healthcare non-profit.
With an eye toward the general elections, Rose largely downplays that he’s running for the Democratic nomination. Democrats actually outnumber Republicans in this district, five to three, but they often vote for GOP candidates. Rose says he’s a proud member of the party — but he’s also trying to position himself as someone who’s above partisanship.
“The Republicans, the Democrats, all the politicians in DC are more interested in winning an argument than in solving a problem,” he says in one online ad, walking down the street and looking into the camera. “Well, they’ve had their shot. Now it’s our turn.”
On a recent morning, the northern Staten Island native was across the Narrows in the Bay Ridge part of the district, greeting subway commuters. Many rushed by, but some stopped to talk. One woman who was also a veteran thanked him for his service and said she’d probably vote for him.
Graphic designer Natalie Konkel said Hello to Rose. They’d met at an earlier campaign event.
“I like him, and I think he can win,” Konkel said. “Ive been noticing a lot of yards near me, where they used to have Trump signs, I’m seeing Max Rose signs — so, hopefully, that’s a good indicator.
Rose is the presumptive favorite. He has endorsements from the Staten Island Democratic Party, major elected officials and unions including Service Employees International Union, Local 32B, one of the country’s largest unions.
He also has money: almost $1.1 million cash in hand, as of the most recent disclosure last week. That’s almost 20 times more than the other five Democratic candidates put together, and almost twice as much as the two Republicans, combined. Much of the money comes from Democratic PACs and from wealthy donors making the maximum legal donation.
Rich Flanagan, a political science professor at the College of Staten Island, understands why Rose is the establishment favorite, given the prospective match between his resume and the culturally conservative district — but he hasn’t been overly impressed with what he’s seen of the campaign, especially with Rose’s media presence and advertising. He described one flyer he received in the mail as “just horrible.”
“It had a lot of vapid stuff about his military service, there was nothing rooted in the district, and it didn’t discuss any issues at all, even in passing,” Flanagan said.
He thinks Rose might well prevail in upcoming primary — but will have his work cut out for him come November.
“I think his campaign messaging needs a lot of help,” Flanagan said.
On a recent weekday morning, Omar Vaid vied for the attention of Staten Island commuters, as they rushed through the ferry terminal to catch the boat to Manhattan.
Vaid, 36, talked to people about his working class roots, first-generation-immigrant background, and membership in the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, as a set decorator for TV shows and movies such as “Homeland.”
“I want strong public schools, better daycare programs,” he said. “I want Medicare for all. And I want strong union jobs.”
Vaid, whose campaign currently has $25,729 cash on hand, says he might trail Rose in name recognition – but he doubts it’s by much.
“Truthfully, most people have never heard of any of us,” he said. “But I feel like when I’m at a large event, like a picnic, out of 100 people, I’m finding maybe two people might know me — and with Max, perhaps three people might know him.”
He says the one candidate everyone seems to know, is the Republican, Michael Grimm - the former Congressman who went to federal prison on tax evasion charges and who’s running in the GOP primary to get the seat back.
That high-profile race may well drive more people than usual from both parties to the polls on Tuesday.
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Here are the other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the 11th Congressional District:
Radhakrishna Mohan works for the state Department of Information Technology and is a union leader and member of several local boards on the South Shore of Staten Island, where he lives. His campaign currently has $12,713 cash on hand.
Zach Emig describes himself as a bond trader who lives on Staten Island. His campaign currently has $5,794 cash on hand.
Paul Sperling describes himself as a political scientist, organizer and entrepreneur. According to the Federal Election Commission, he has no financial disclosure forms.