Dan Donovan (politician)

Early life

Donovan was born into a working-class Roman Catholic family in Staten Island, New York in 1956. His Irish-American father, Daniel Michael Donovan, was a longshoreman and lifelong Democrat; his Polish-American mother, Katherine Bolewicz Donovan, was a garment worker.

He was raised in the Tompkinsville section of the borough. He attended Monsignor Farrell High School, an all-boys Catholic school, graduating in 1974. He went to study Criminal Justice at St. John's University. After graduating from there he attended Fordham University School of Law, earning his juris doctor in 1988.

Early career

In 1989, Donovan became an Assistant District Attorney in the office of Robert M. Morgenthau. He served in the office of the New York County District Attorney under Morgenthau until 1996. Later that year Donovan became Chief of Staff to then Staten Island Borough President Guy V. Molinari. 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.

Richmond County District Attorney

In 2003, twenty-year incumbent Democrat William L. Murphy decided not to seek re-election. 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. A key part 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.

He was re-elected in 2007 with over 68% of the vote, defeating local Democratic attorney Michael Ryan despite 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.

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. In 2010, famed rapper Method Man pleaded guilty to attempted tax evasion and was forced to pay about $106,000 in restitution and penalties.

Eric Garner case

Donovan became the focus of a national controversy surrounding the death of Eric Garner in 2014 when he failed to prosecute Garner's killer before a Grand Jury. Dan Donovan became a figure in the national controversy surrounding the death of Eric Garner the Richmond County Grand Jury decided not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the officer whose chokehold medical examiner's considered instrumental in Garner's death, on any charges. The medical examiner's office ruled Eric Garner's death a homicide. After considering the medical examiner's findings that Eric Garner was killed by "compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police" Donovan's office declared "it is appropriate to present evidence regarding circumstances of his death to a Richmond County Grand Jury."

Donovan asked the Grand Jury to consider whether there was "probable cause" for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, but did not bring forward reckless endangerment charges. After two months, that Grand Jury brought forward no indictment. Dan Donovan's office fought against releasing the trial proceedings citing New York confidentiality laws despite being pressured by activists and fellow lawmakers to release the records.

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. However, Bob Antonacci, Onondaga County Comptroller, announced his intention run for Attorney General. Antonacci stepped aside and endorsed Donovan after earning forty percent of the vote at the 2010 Republican State Convention. With a sixty percent win of the delegates at the convention and no primary opponent, Donovan became the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party. One week earlier, he had received the endorsement of the Conservative Party of New York. He was defeated on November 2 by Democrat Eric Schneiderman.

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. Donovan was elected May 5, 2015 and sworn into office on May 12, 2015.

Committee assignments

Political stances

As of 22 April 2017, Donovan voted with his party in 97.3% of votes so far in the current session of Congress and voted in line with President Trump's position in 92% of votes.

Donovan was ranked as the 15th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress (and the fifth most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York) in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship (by measuring the frequency each member's bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and each member's co-sponsorship of bills by members of the opposite party).

Abortion

He opposes abortion.

Environment

He opposes federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. In February 2017, he voted to repeal the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation that required coal companies to restore streams and mined areas to their pre-development conditions. In February 2017, he voted in favor of repealing a rule that required energy companies to disclose payments to foreign governments.

Healthcare

He has voted in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

In March 2017, he planned to vote no on the American Health Care Act (the GOP's bill repealing Obamacare).

Immigration

Donovan supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. He stated that “President Trump’s decision is in America’s best interest, and I support exploring safe zones in the region to protect innocent life.”

LGBT rights

He was endorsed by the Log Cabin Republicans in his political career. He has been criticized by opponents as being opposed to LGBT rights.

Privacy

In March 2017, Donovan voted to reverse a Federal Communications Commission privacy rule that prevented internet service providers from selling their customers' browsing data.

2016 Re-election campaign

Donovan faced Democrat Richard Reichard in his first re-election bid. Donovan was re-elected with 61.5% of the vote.

Townhall controversy

In 2017, some of Donovan's constituents noted he had never hosted a town hall and began to request one. Members of District 11 cited their concerns over Donovan's support of President Trump's Executive Order 13780 that would place limits on travel to the U.S. from certain countries, and by all refugees who do not possess either a visa or valid travel documents, and his voting record on health care coverage as reasons for wanting the town hall. The same constituents claimed requests for meetings and town halls had gone unanswered.

Protesters disrupted a Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce event in February 2017, claiming that since Donovan wouldn't meet them in a town hall, they would find him at other events. Donovan claimed he had offered meetings, but some activists said this was untrue, and that meetings were hastily scheduled after the Chamber of Commerce protest. Additional protests followed in Brooklyn and Staten Island, focusing on concerns around the Affordable Care Act.

In February, Staten Island residents hosted their own Town Hall. The hosts said Donovan had been invited but did not attend. Instead, he offered a Tele-Town Hall, which prompted additional protests.

During the April Congressional Recess, Donovan again offered a "tele-Town Hall" while, two days later, another activist group, Fight Back Bay Ridge, planned a Congressional Town Hall on Donovan's behalf. Though organizers said they had invited Donovan to participate, he declined the in-person invitation. The event, which reached standing-room capacity of about 200 people, was livestreamed on Facebook to an audience of over 2,100 viewers. The event, despite Donovan's concerns of disruption, was reported to be civil and educational.