Democrats on Staten Island have lost their party's so-called frontrunner to run in an upcoming Congressional special election. The party may now be at a loss as it looks to get someone to run for Congress. NY1's Courtney Gross filed this report.

State Assemblyman Michael Cusick was by some accounts the Democrats' best chance at winning back a seat in Congress on Staten Island. 

"The process is still playing itself out. We don't know when the special election is scheduled for," said Cusick earlier this month.

That process for him, though, is over. The Staten Island Democrat announced late Sunday night he would not be running for Congress. 

In a statement, he said he could best serve his constituents by remaining in the state Assembly. 

The announcement means Democrats in the district are left scrambling to find a new face to run against the GOP candidate, District Attorney Dan Donovan. 

"Democratic parties on both sides of the bridge have remained in constant contact. They are interviewing people. They are talking with people. They are gauging everybody's interest," says Democratic consultant Jon Yedin.

That interest may be waning. 

After spending millions of dollars on the race last year, in the hopes of defeating Michael Grimm and sending Democrat Domenic Recchia to Congress, the democratic congressional campaign committee is now practically writing the race off. 

In a statement, a spokesman for the national democrats said quote, "We've always said that this district is very challenging for Democrats in a special election, but it is going to be competitive in November of 2016."

An official at the local Democratic Party told us there are still six candidates under consideration.

Two are elected officials from Brooklyn: Councilman Vincent Gentile and Assemblyman William Colton.

Four others are residents of Staten Island. 

Democratic elected officials from Staten Island have all opted to sit this one out. 

"We do need to turn to other candidates who each have pluses and minuses of their own," Yedin says.

Democrats are now considering whether it's better to pick an elected official from across the Verrazano or a relatively unknown resident of Staten Island. 

Those Staten Island Democrats are expected to make that decision in the next two weeks.