Weiner Successor Gets Raw Deal

The New York Times reports:

So, who wants to be a lame-duck freshman?

That was the reaction from political insiders on Thursday when asked what would become of Representative Anthony D. Weiner’s Congressional district, which covers Brooklyn and Queens.

After all, with New York State set to lose two House seats because of the 2010 census, many believe that Mr. Weiner’s territory, the Ninth Congressional District, will be carved up to benefit Democratic incumbents in adjoining districts.

If so, then whoever wins a special election this fall would quite likely get to call himself or herself a member of Congress for a little more than a year. And no more than that, because the expectation is that the winner — assuming it is a Democrat, since the district is strongly Democratic — would probably not challenge the neighboring incumbents.

“There is very little precedent that I can think of that someone is agreeing to be both a placeholder and not to seek that office if they get districted out,” said Scott Levenson, a Democratic consultant.