Dan Donovan (politician)

Dan Donovan
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office May 12, 2015
Preceded by	Michael Grimm
District Attorney of Richmond County
In office January 1, 2004 – May 12, 2015[1]
Preceded by	William L. Murphy
Succeeded by	Michael McMahon
Deputy Borough President of Staten Island
In office January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2003
Preceded by	James Molinaro
Succeeded by	Edward Burke
Personal details
Born	Daniel Michael Donovan, Jr. (1956-11-06) November 6, 1956 Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Residence	Great Kills, Staten Island
Alma mater	St. John's University (B.S.) Fordham University (J.D.)
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic
Signature

Daniel Michael "Dan" Donovan, Jr. (born November 6, 1956) is an attorney and elected official from New York City. He is currently the United States Representative for New York's 11th congressional district, winning the seat after his predecessor, Rep. Michael Grimm, plead guilty to tax fraud charges.^[2][3][4][5]

Early life

Dan Donovan was born into a working-class Roman Catholic family in Staten Island, New York in 1956. His Irish-American father, Daniel M. Donovan, Sr., was a longshoreman and lifelong Democrat, his Polish-American mother, Katherine Bolewicz Donovan, was a garment worker.^[6][7] He was raised in the Tompkinsville section of the borough.^[8] He attended Monsignor Farrell High School, an all-boys Catholic school, graduating in 1974.^[9] He went to study Criminal Justice at St. John's University.^[8] After graduating from there he attended Fordham University School of Law, earning his juris doctor in 1988.^[8]

Early career

In 1989 Dan Donovan became an Assistant District Attorney in the office of Robert M. Morgenthau.^[10] He served in with the office of the New York County District Attorney under Mr. Morgenthau until 1996. Later that year Donovan became Chief of Staff to then Staten Island Borough President Guy V. Molinari.^[11] He remained in that position until 2002 when he was sworn in as Deputy Borough President of Staten Island; he had been appointed by his immediate predecessor and the then new Borough President James Molinaro.^[11]

Richmond County District Attorney

In 2003, twenty-year incumbent Democrat, William L. Murphy decided not to seek re-election. Dan Donovan announced his intention to run to succeed him. In the election he faced Chief Assistant District Attorney David Lehr and won with over 53% of the vote.^[12] One of the key parts of his platform was to start the county's first witness protection program, and his office led the city's prosecutors with the highest felony conviction rate in many of the years since he took office.^[13] He was re-elected in 2007 with over 68% of the vote, defeating local Democratic attorney Michael Ryan.^[14] This was in spite of a last minute endorsement for his rival by longtime friend and mentor Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro; Molinaro was angered that Donovan had referred his grandson's case to a special prosecutor.^[15] Donovan's tenure as DA has seen several high-profile cases, including the second conviction of Andre Rand, long suspected in a string of kidnappings on Staten Island.^[16] In 2010, famed rapper Method Man pled guilty to attempted tax evasion and was forced to pay about $106,000 in restitution and penalties.^[17]

Donovan became the focus of a national controversy surrounding the death of Eric Garner in 2014.^{[18][19][20][21]}

2010 New York Attorney General campaign

On May 17, 2010, Donovan, a registered Republican, announced his candidacy for the New York attorney general election, 2010, becoming the front runner for his party's nomination.^[22] In spite of this Bob Antonacci, Onondaga County Comptroller, announced his intention run for Attorney General.^[23] Antonacci stepped aside and endorsed Donovan after earning forty percent of the vote at the 2010 Republican State Convention.^[24] With a sixty percent win of the delegates at the convention and no primary opponent, Donovan became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party.^[25] A week prior he received the endorsement of the Conservative Party of New York.^[26] He was defeated on November 2 by the Democratic nominee Eric Schneiderman.

U.S. House of Representatives

2015 special election

Donovan was selected as the Republican candidate for New York's 11th congressional district after the resignation of Michael Grimm. He defeated the Democrat, Vincent J. Gentile, and the Green Party candidate, James Lane, in the May 2015 special election.^[5]

Tenure

Donovan was elected May 5, 2015 and sworn into office on May 12, 2015.^[27]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
  • Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
• Committee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies
  • Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications

References

External links

• Dan Donovan for Congress
• Official U.S. House site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress