The Manhattan Libertarian Party held its nominating convention last night to select its 2008 candidates. There’s one race in particular that everyone wants to know about: As the New York Times reported this morning, we selected a surprising candidate for the 13th Congressional District on Staten Island:
The Libertarian Party selected Susan Overeem on Monday night as the nominee for the Congressional seat being vacated by Representative Vito J. Fossella of Staten Island. She had nearly three times as many votes as the other Libertarian candidate, Francis M. Powers, the son of the Republican Party candidate, Francis H. Powers.
Ms. Overeem, who recently stepped down from her job as a receptionist for radio station WABC, received 17 votes from officials of the Manhattan chapter of the party. The Manhattan chapter selects candidates for offices throughout the city. Mr. Powers received six votes.
Despite the lopsided vote, I think it was a very hard choice for our members. Fran made an excellent case for himself, and in Susan’s absence, he would have easily received the nomination. It’s a credit to Fran’s character and his passion for liberty that he has committed to supporting Susan’s campaign and building a Libertarian Party organization on Staten Island.
We also endorsed Isaiah Matos to challenge Carolyn Maloney for the 14th congressional district, Bill Buran for the 72nd Assembly District against Adriano Espaillat, and Nic Leobold for the 66th Assembly District against Deborah Glick.
UPDATE: The Staten Island Advance has a nice story about Susan Overeem, and the Advance’s polit.bureau blog continues it’s non-stop coverage of the race with comments from Fran that he’s not too upset about the results.