STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A new Civil Court judge will be elected this year on Staten Island, after state lawmakers voted recently to create an additional seat.
According to local Republican leaders, however, the manner in which the seat was created is a “dirty trick” by Democrats to stack the odds in their favor.
During a press conference Monday called by Staten Island Republican Party Chair Mike Tannousis, he said the move was a ploy by a Democratic-majority in Albany and the Staten Island Democratic Party.
“The reason this (seat) was created in this manner was to give the Staten Island Democratic Party a leg up in this upcoming election,” said Tannousis, an Assemblyman who represents the East Shore and parts of South Brooklyn.
There are two municipal districts for judges in Civil Court. The new seat budgeted for 2025 was for a District 1 seat. That district encompasses the North and West shores, where approximately 100,000 residents are registered to vote in the upcoming election.
District 2 encompasses the East and South Shores, where approximately 200,000 residents are registered voters.
According to Republican leaders, lawmakers had a choice to create the new seat in District 1, District 2, or to make it a boroughwide seat.
“Anyone who looks at voting patterns will realize that the second district seat, which represents over 200,000 people, is a very strong Republican district,” said Tannousis.
“If they cared about the people of Staten Island, they would have created a seat that was Island-wide so that everyone on Staten Island would have a say as to who their next Civil Court judge will be.”
‘Lies and misinformation’
Responding to statements made at the press conference Monday, Democratic Committee Chair Charles D. Fall disputed claims of political trickery.
“It’s unfortunate that the Staten Island Republican Party continues to spread lies and misinformation to Staten Islanders in an attempt to mislead voters into believing they’re working for the community,” said Fall, an Assemblyman who represents the borough’s North Shore, and parts of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
“The judicial lines that they are questioning have been around for more than 100 years,’’ Fall said in a written statement Monday. ”It was the Office of Court Administration that recommended we include a judicial seat due to the needs of the county, which is what we did.”
He called the press conference “pathetic” and said it was an attempt to “get their candidate’s name in the paper, while trying to muddy the waters with partisan politics.”
Candidates backed by opposing parties
While judges are considered non-partisan given the nature of their duties, nominees for New York judicial races and elsewhere are typically decided by local party establishment figures.
For the newly created seat on Staten Island, the local Democratic Party chose longtime attorney Matthew Santamauro, who is opposed by Republican nominee Remy Smith, a Housing Court judge.
Santamauro launched his campaign in June outside the New York Supreme Court building in St. George, vowing that, if elected, he would be fair in his decisions.
“To me, being a judge means so much. It is much more than a political position,” Santamauro said. “I pledge to the people of Staten Island that if I am elected, every case will be heard with equality and fairness and understanding.”
A graduate of Hofstra University School of Law, he served as an assistant district attorney for the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office, briefly worked at a civil defense firm, and founded his own practice in 2000, specializing in criminal and injury law. He ran an unsuccessful Civil Court race in 2022.
Smith currently sits in Staten Island Housing Court, and is a lifelong Staten Islander, currently residing in Westerleigh. She previously served in Brooklyn Housing Court before taking on her current role.
“What I try to do every day is make sure … that I pay close attention to every person’s individual case and set of circumstances, because while I may be a judge hearing 100 cases in a day, those litigants, it’s their only case,” she said. “I personally think it’s very important to make sure each case is its own, (and) has its own integrity.”
Smith graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 2000, and served as an attorney for several firms before taking on her current role.