Staten Island DA Dan Donovan say he will run for Michael Grimm's House seat

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan officially entered the race for Congress Friday, announcing he will run in the special election for the House seat vacated by Michael Grimm.

Donovan released the following statement:

"Last week I announced that I would seriously consider running for the vacant Congressional seat in the 11th Congressional District of New York. I made that announcement after a 24 hour period in which my phone never stopped ringing with expressions of enthusiastic support from elected officials, party leaders, and residents of Staten Island and Brooklyn. I said then that after due deliberation I would make my decision.

"In the week since my last announcement the enthusiasm for my candidacy has only broadened and intensified, with expressions of support also from beyond the two boroughs.

Accordingly, please consider this my formal announcement that I will be seeking the endorsements of the Republican, Conservative, and Independence Parties in the upcoming Special Election for the 11th Congressional District of New York. I expect the selection processes of those parties to commence sometime in the near future and will only comment further in due course after those party processes have taken place."

Grimm resigned last week just days after pleading guilty to tax evasion, saying the events that led to his decision didn't break his spirit but that he could not be 100 percent effective.

Grimm made his announcement after a private meeting with House Speaker John Boehner.

"Representative Grimm made the honorable decision to step down from his seat in Congress," Boehner said.

After the plea, Grimm had said he would stay in Congress as long as he could.

"As long as I am able to serve, I am going to serve - as of right now, I am still in a capacity to serve, and that is exactly what I plan on doing," Grimm said.

He was re-elected to his Staten Island seat in November.

Grimm, who owned an Upper East Side health food store called "Healthalicious", admitted to hiding more than a million dollars in sales and wages from the IRS.