Rep. Vito Fossella of Staten Island, a rare Republican in the New York City delegation, has accumulated, shall we say, some political baggage lately. He acknowledged yesterday that he had fathered a child with a woman other than his wife and the previous Thursday, he disclosed that he had been stopped by police for driving while intoxicated. That prompted several less-than-veiled hints from leaders in his own party that maybe he should think about his political future, the Democrats now think they can make a run at this traditionally GOP seat, and his home town paper, the Staten Island Advance, said he should resign immediately.

BUT … 61 percent of adults in his 13th congressional district said he should remain in office as opposed to 32 percent who think he should resign, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted May 8. That goes for Republicans (66 percent ) and Democrats (55 percent) alike. The numbers drop off a bit when voters were asked if he should run for re-election, with 53 percent saying he should against 42 percent. Republicans support the idea of another term by 2-to-1 while Democrats are evenly split.