Embattled Republican Rep. Michael Grimm is leading his Democratic challenger by four points in a recent poll, even though he's facing possible jail time on tax evasion charges, reports
The Washington Post.
But the New York congressman, who's in an election battle with former New York City councilmember Domenic Recchia, should not be toasting his good fortune just yet, even though he seems to be proving once again that politicians can survive a scandal, the newspaper said.
The reason that Grimm could still have a grim time come Election Day is that right now, according to the
NY1/Siena College poll, he's currently captured a larger chunk of Democratic voters that had been thought likely — but that could quickly change.
The survey suggests that 41 percent of Democrats are likely to "move more strongly" to Recchia as the election grows closer, especially when they start to weigh up each candidates' drawbacks, the Post aid.
When it comes to the lesser-known Recchia, he lives in Brooklyn while the district he would be serving mostly consists of Staten Island. However, on the face of it, the political problem for Grimm is certainly far worse.
Grimm was arrested in April on a
20-count federal indictment involving a restaurant business he launched after leaving the FBI in 2006. He's accused of setting up a tax evasion scheme at the business by hiding $1 million in earnings and hiring a number of illegal immigrants.
The Post pointed out that if voters learn more about Recchia and are willing to ignore the fact that he's not a Staten Island resident, the four-point lead might not be enough for Grimm to become an exception to the "scandal-is-survivable" rule.
The newspaper was referring to the three other Republicans who appear to be continuing their political careers in the aftermath of headline-making scandals.
Tennessee Rep. Scott DesJarlais won a GOP primary last month despite being socked with shocking divorce revelations during his campaign, although his victory was by a margin of just 35 votes.
The court records from his 2001 divorce showed that the pro-life Republican had pushed his then wife to have two abortions, while also revealing that the physician had several affairs with patients before his divorce was finalized, and that he had even encouraged one to have an abortion.
After Louisiana Rep. Vance McAllister was caught kissing an aide on video, he pulled out of his re-election bid, but then changed his mind. He now leads his Democratic rival, Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo, by six points, according to one recent
poll.
South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford was elected to the House in 20013 despite the scandal surrounding his affair four years earlier when he was governor.
Sanford went missing for several days in 2009 after telling his staff that he was hiking along the Appalachia Trail, while he was actually in Argentina visiting his mistress.
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