THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

And probably to be expected from a district that elected a scumbag like Michael Grimm. Daniel Donovan, the Staten Island DA who made sure that the four cops needed to kill Eric Garner for selling loose cigarettes were not in any way impeded in their glorious careers, has advanced his career by winning the seat of said scumbag.

Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who empaneled the grand jury that declined to indict the officer who placed Eric Garner in the fatal chokehold, will keep the seat in Republican hands. He defeated Democratic City Councilman Vincent Gentile in a low-turnout special election to succeed Michael Grimm.

The race occurred in the shadow of the Garner decision, which helped fuel the national debate on the relationship between police and minority communities.

With more than 98 percent of the vote counted in unofficial results, Donovan led Gentile 59 percent to 39 percent. Nearly 39,000 votes had been counted.

Donovan becomes the lone Republican to represent New York City in Congress.

Donovan came to national attention last year after a cellphone video showed Garner being placed in a chokehold during a street confrontation. The December grand jury decision led to protests, and Garner's name was cited on social media by a gunman who killed two New York police officers weeks later.

It also was a perpetual presence as Donovan campaigned, even as he took pains to avoid it. At a debate between Donovan and Gentile, someone in the audience yelled, "I can't breathe!" a reference to Garner's last words.

Donovan didn't mention Garner in his victory remarks Tuesday. But the specter of the grand jury decision didn't hurt Donovan on Staten Island, home to a significant number of police officers, firefighters and working-class whites, and the outcome of the race was never truly in doubt.

The two best known demographic groups on Staten Island are police and firefighters and mob bosses. And now they have the representation they deserve.