The 11th district is located entirely in
New York City and includes all of
Staten Island and parts of southern
Brooklyn. Incumbent Republican
Michael Grimm, who had represented the district since 2011, ran for re-election. The district had a
PVI of R+2.
Republican primary On April 25, two weeks after the filing deadline, Grimm was indicted on charges including mail fraud and wire fraud due to a campaign finance investigation from his successful run for the 13th district in
2010. The only way he could have been removed from the ballot was by moving out of the state, running for a judgeship or being convicted before the general election. If Grimm had been removed from the ballot, potential Republican candidates included former U.S. Representative
Vito Fossella, State Senator
Andrew Lanza, State Assemblywoman
Nicole Malliotakis, State Assemblyman
Joseph Borelli, former state assemblyman
Matthew Mirones,
Richmond County District Attorney and nominee for
New York Attorney General in
2010 Daniel M. Donovan, Jr.,
Staten Island Borough President James Oddo,
New York City Council Minority Leader
Vincent M. Ignizio and New York City Councilman
Steven Matteo.
Candidates Nominee •
Michael Grimm, incumbent U.S. Representative
Results Grimm, however, remained on the ballot and received the Republican, Conservative and Independence Party nominations.
Disqualified • Erick Salgado, pastor of the Church of Iglesia Jovenes Cristianos and candidate for
mayor of New York City in
2013 •
Debi Rose, former
New York City Council member •
Diane Savino,
state senator •
Matthew Titone,
state assembly member
Results Recchia won the Democratic nomination unopposed, after Salgado was removed from the ballot after failing to file enough nominating petition signatures. He also received the Working Families nomination.
General election Campaign Despite running against a recently indicted opponent, Recchia and his campaign made a series of errors, some of which received national attention. He was criticized for being unable to explain his position on trade and labor issues, as well as seemingly not understanding what the
Trans-Pacific Partnership was. The following day he stated that he had “great knowledge” of foreign affairs, by citing his experience in running a school exchange program more than a decade earlier and trips he had taken to Italy. These events prompted
Jon Stewart to dedicate a segment of
The Daily Show to the 11th district's campaign, entitled “Wait, How the F@#k Does That Happen?”, in which he mocked Recchia for his repeated verbal flubs. In its editorial endorsing Grimm, the
New York Daily News described Recchia as "a candidate so dumb, ill-informed, evasive and inarticulate that voting for a thuggish Republican who could wind up in a prison jumpsuit starts to make rational sense".
Endorsements Debate Polling Predictions Results On election night, Grimm easily won a third term, defeating Recchia by nearly 13%, declaring in his victory speech that "It's not how hard you can hit, it's how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done". Due to his losing to an indicted congressman in a swing district by double figures,
The Hill named Recchia as one of their "Top 10 worst candidates of 2014". {{Election box begin no change
Aftermath On December 23, Grimm pled guilty to one charge of felony tax evasion. He initially refused to resign, but on December 29 confirmed that he would resign from Congress on January 5. A
special election to replace him was held on May 5, 2015. On July 17, 2015, Grimm was sentenced to eight months in prison. He surrendered on September 22, 2015, ultimately serving seven months before being released on May 20, 2016. ==District 12==