By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York City prosecutor who presided over a grand jury that declined to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man said on Friday he will run for the U.S. Congress.
District Attorney Daniel Donovan, 58, a Republican, said he will seek the seat left open with the resignation of Rep. Michael Grimm earlier this month.
Grimm, a Republican, has pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud and faces up to three years in prison.
Donovan, the top prosecutor in the city's Staten Island borough, has been criticized by civil rights activists who say he was not aggressive enough in seeking an indictment against a white police officer who used an unsanctioned chokehold to arrest Eric Garner in July.
Garner, 43, died, and the city's medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
The decision not to return an indictment, coming just weeks after a Missouri grand jury opted not to indict a police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black man, launched weeks of protests across the United States against police violence.
Donovan has opposed the public release of transcripts and evidence from the Staten Island proceedings, which civil rights and legal activists are seeking in hopes of shedding light on the decision.
Donovan said in a statement on Friday that when he previously expressed interest in the congressional seat, the positive response he got helped him decide to run.
"My phone never stopped ringing with expressions of enthusiastic support from elected officials, party leaders and residents," he said.
A special election to fill the seat has not yet been scheduled.
Donovan ran for the office of New York state attorney general in 2010, losing to Democrat Eric Schneiderman.
Other potential contenders for Grimm's seat include former Democratic Rep. Michael McMahon, who lost re-election to Grimm in 2010.