Troubled House Committee on Energy and Commerce member Vito Fossella (R-NY) has decided to finish out his current term but will not seek re-election following his cascading scandal that began with a DUI and progressed to the discovery of a second family in addition to the one back in New York.
RBR/TVBR observation: Though he served on one of the key broadcast oversight committees, we don’t have any recollection of Fossella taking the lead on broadcast issues. The bigger concern for Republicans will be holding the seat. His district includes Staten Island and Brooklyn, and both the senate campaign of Hillary Clinton and the governor campaign of Eliot Spitzer easily won there. Fosella beat a weak candidate 56.7% to 43.3% in 2006, but how Republicans will fare without the power of in incumbency is anybody’s guess.
