Prosecutor in Eric Garner Case Wins Special Election; Garner’s Mom Laments Turnout

One of the side effects of ex-Congressman Michael Grimm being found guilty on a felony tax evasion charge and stepping down is that the Republican who ended up running to replace him was Daniel Donovan, the Staten Island district attorney who just happened to be the prosecutor in the Eric Garner case.

Garner, of course, died during a confrontation with police in which he was put in a chokehold. The grand jury ended up not indicting the officer. Donovan defended the decision and insisted his goal is not meant to steer grand juries towards any particular decisions.

Well, Donovan ended up winning that congressional special election last night against Democrat Vincent Gentile.

Gwen Carr, Eric Garner’s mother, was at Gentile’s after-party last night and had this to say about why Donovan won:

“We had a very, very low turnout with the Afro-American voters and the Latino voters. And you have to vote. You have to elect your own candidate. Don’t let anyone elect them for you. And that’s exactly what they did. They let someone else elect their candidate.”

[image via NYC.gov]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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