The race for Congress on Staten Island ended up in an unexpected place Friday: Chinatown, where Dan Donovan was courting the Asian-American vote and weighing in on immigration reform. NY1's Courtney Gross filed the following report.

Dan Donovan was about nine miles outside of the 11th congressional district. 

"We're in Chinatown today, and we've been visiting some small businesses, and those business owners have concerns just like many business owners in the 11th congressional district," Donovan said.

He was stopping by restaurants and Asian-American associations, accepting an endorsement for his run for Congress in Brooklyn and Staten Island. It's a nod Donovan says comes as the Asian-American population grows on Staten Island. 

Not surprisingly, immigration reform was a topic of conversation. The Republican candidate recently softened his stance on immigration reform. Donovan now says he supports a pathway to citizenship. 

"What I've said about people here illegally that haven't committed a crime is, they deserve a pathway to be here legally with a penalty or fine, but we should find a way to make it easier for them to become citizens," he said.

The district attorney denies he ever suggested undocumented immigrants should be deported. 

"I was quoted wrong," Donovan said. "They asked me if I thought deportation is be a consideration."

It was a question we asked him back in February. 

Gross: Do you think the people that are here now should be deported?
Donovan: I don't know. That's a very difficult task to do, so I don't know how we would go about doing that. So that should be explored.

As Donovan strolled the streets of Lower Manhattan, his opponent, Democrat Vincent Gentile, accused the DA of being missing in action, dodging debates and voters. 

"I haven't been in the same places that he is," Donovan said.

While Donovan was out of the district and in Chinatown courting voters, a particularly powerful state Democrat has decided to stay out of the race entirely.

"I normally leave local races to the localities," said Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Looks like the governor will be staying away from Staten Island.