Erica Garner, the 25-year-old daughter of Eric Garner left behind when he died in a police choke hold last year, is considering a congressional run to challenge former Staten Island District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. Donovan is mostly known for his failure to indict the officers involved in Eric Garner’s death, which was caught on video. Garner’s death and the subsequent failure to indict his killers had surprisingly little impact on Donovan’s campaign in New York’s 11th District’s special election this year to replace Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud and resigned.
Rep. Donovan, a Republican, is running for re-election next year, with no known Democratic contenders as of yet. Erica Garner would be the first if she chose to pursue. The New York Postreports:
“I’m considering [running],” [Garner] told The Post Thursday after a speech on criminal-justice issues.
[...]
Erica Garner criticized Donovan’s political rise.
“He’s been promoted,” she said. “He had a platform off my dad’s dead body to run for Congress, and that’s why he did it. It was a political move.”
Donovan declined to comment.
He’s running for re-election next year in the 11th Congressional District that covers Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn.
No other potential Democratic challengers have emerged.
Local elected officials urged Garner to meet with politicians, stake out a campaign platform and discuss a strategy if she wants to move forward.
Regardless of chances, a potential Garner run would certainly force Donovan to answer questions about the case and subsequent failure to indict that did not bother his special election campaign at all. As the records of the grand jury have been sealed, these are questions for which Erica Garner and the greater community in Staten Island deserve answers.