Patricia McDonald, wife of disabled NYC cop, mulls run for Congress

Patricia Norris-McDonald, the mayor of Malverne and the wife of disabled New York City police officer Steven McDonald, interviewed in Washington, D.C., Thursday with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as a potential candidate to replace retiring Rep. Carolyn McCarthy.

Norris-McDonald, who is in her second term as the village mayor, said she was contacted by Democratic Party officials about her interest in the seat.

"I am extremely flattered to be considered for the seat," said Norris-McDonald, 51, who previously served as a member of the village board of trustees.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), chairman of the campaign committee, referred calls to committee spokesman Marc Brumer, who declined to comment.

Brumer also declined to comment about how many candidates wereinterviewed for the seat.McCarthy (D-Mineola), who announced last week she will not run for re-election, and Norris-McDonald are vocal gun control advocates whose spouses were victims of gun violence.

In 1993, gunman Colin Ferguson killed six people, including McCarthy's husband, Dennis, aboard a Hicksville-bound Long Island Rail Road train, .

McCarthy's son, Kevin, was among 19 victims who were woundedSteven McDonald was an NYPD officer on patrol in Central Park in 1986 when he was shot three times by 15-year-old Shavod Jones, a suspect in several bicycle thefts. The shooting left McDonald a quadriplegic.

Jones was released from prison in 1995 and was killed in a motorcycle crash three days later.Nassau Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs said there are "significant parallels" between McCarthy and McDonald's experiences. "And, in my judgment that can only work in [McDonald's] favor," he said.

Among Democrats who have expressed interest in the seat are Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice; the county legislature's minority leader, Kevan Abrahams; Legis. Dave Denenberg; Laura Gillen, who ran for Nassau County clerk last year; and Freeport trustee Carmen Piñeyro, Jacobs said.

Potential Republican candidates include Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, and Nassau Legis. Francis X. Becker Jr. Attorney Frank Scaturro has declared his candidacy.