WASHINGTON (AP) -- The race to succeed New York Rep. Vito Fossella, who chose to retire after acknowledging he fathered a child outside his marriage, has become even more uncertain with the unexpected death over the weekend of the Republicans' chosen successor.

Frank Powers, 67, died Sunday at his home in Staten Island, N.Y., of natural causes, but his death came as a shock to his family and to the Republican Party, which had hoped he could retain the GOP's hold on the congressional district held for more than a decade by Fossella.

The party was forced to find a new candidate after Fossella decided not to seek re-election following revelations he had fathered a child outside his marriage. The relationship was exposed after Fossella was arrested and charged with drunken driving in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C.

Powers, a wealthy retired Wall Street executive, had contributed often to GOP candidates but had not run for elected office before. The Staten Island GOP settled on him after several elected officials chose not to run.

Before Powers' death, Democrats had seen the contest as a prime opportunity for their party to pick up a seat long held by the GOP, in what is expected to be a tough election year for congressional Republicans nationwide.

Fossella sought to put to rest Monday any speculation he might be rethinking his decision following Powers' death. "My plans for the future have not changed. I am not running for re-election," he said in a statement.

The untimely death of Powers, however, raises a host of new questions for the Republicans: What candidate will they pick now? How soon can he or she start campaigning? How much money they can raise?

Powers had been expected to pay for at least part of his own campaign, a critical factor in what is one of the most expensive election districts in the country.

A spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee declined to comment, citing the personal loss of the Powers family. A spokesman for the state Republicans did not immediately return a call for comment, nor did the head of the Staten Island Republican party.

The district encompasses Staten Island and includes part of Brooklyn. Politically, it has been dominated by socially conservative Catholics, who helped Fossella win a special election in 1997 and every re-election since.