Republicans looking for a break in an already uphill battle in New York's Thirteenth District were dealt another blow this weekend when Frank Powers, the party's chosen replacement for retiring Rep. Vito Fossella, passed away in his sleep at his Staten Island home, the New York Times reported. He was 67 years old.

Powers, a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a major Republican donor and a retired Wall Street executive, had been tapped last month as the party's favored candidate to run for the seat, which Fossella is vacating after a drunken driving charge and the revelation that he fathered a child outside his marriage. Powers had been Fossella's finance chairman, the Times reported.

Democrats have long had their eye on the seat, which voted for Al Gore but, three years after September 11, 2001, gave President Bush a big margin of victory. Aside from Staten Island, the district also has a few Brooklyn neighborhoods in it. The party is leaning on New York City councilman Michael McMahon, of the island, who got a visit last month from DCCC chairman Chris Van Hollen.

McMahon doesn't have a clear shot at the seat just yet. He will likely face Stephen Harrison, an attorney who ran against Fossella in 2006, and whose campaign first indicated the district might be prone to breaking Democratic. Harrison spent just $132,000, less than one-tenth of what Fossella spent in 2006, and ended up with 43% of the vote.

Several other Republicans remain on the ballot, though none look like serious threats at the moment. Republicans have until July to find a replacement candidate, though several one-time top prospects sat out the first round of GOP recruiting when Fossella first announced he would step down. The party now finds itself at a significant disadvantage in the race to retain the last seat in which a Republican represents part of the country's largest city.