With Trump probe looming, Bragg leads in race for Manhattan D.A
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[June 23, 2021]
By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) -Alvin Bragg, a former federal
prosecutor and civil rights lawyer, was leading the Democratic
nominating contest for Manhattan district attorney on Tuesday, putting
him in position to become the first Black person to lead one of the
country's highest-profile prosecutor's offices.
With 96% of results reported, Bragg held 34% of the vote by registered
Democrats, leading his main rival, former federal prosecutor and former
Justice Department official Tali Farhadian Weinstein, who was in second
place at 30%.
Six other candidates trailed far behind.
Given Manhattan's heavily Democratic lean, the winner of the primary is
almost assured of prevailing in November's general election against
Republican Thomas Kenniff, a former Westchester County prosecutor and
Iraq War veteran who ran unopposed for his party's nomination.
The next district attorney will likely inherit the office's ongoing
criminal probe into former President Donald Trump's business empire,
which was initiated in 2018 under the retiring Cyrus Vance Jr.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jun/23/images/ads/current/charrons_bch041713.png)
The new prosecutor will also have to navigate a national debate over
criminal justice, race and civil rights, even as the city faces an
upswing in crime that has put public safety at the center of Tuesday's
mayoral election.
Bragg, who won endorsements from progressives such as Rachael Rollins,
Boston's district attorney, has tried to strike a balance between
preserving civil liberties and protecting public safety.
Weinstein, who is seen as more moderate than most of the other
candidates, had the backing of former presidential nominee Hillary
Clinton and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. She raised far
more campaign funds than any other candidate, thanks to her ties to Wall
Street via her husband, the hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein.
A win for either Bragg or Weinstein would mark a historic first: there
has never been a Black or a female Manhattan district attorney.
Turnover in the office is unusual; the next district attorney will be
only the third in nearly 50 years. The Manhattan district attorney's
office employs 500 lawyers and has an annual budget of around $125
million. Thanks to Wall Street's location in Manhattan, the office
oversees a wide range of financial crimes.
Unlike the mayoral election, voters did not use a ranked-choice voting
system, which allows voters to rank multiple candidates in order of
preference.
There are more than 27,000 absentee ballots still to be counted,
according to the city elections board.
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![](../images/062321PIX/news_L23.jpg)
Alvin Bragg, candidate for District Attorney of New York poses for a
portrait in New York City, New York, U.S., April 15, 2021.
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
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TRUMP PROBE
The candidates largely refrained from offering specific thoughts on
the Trump investigation. But Bragg often reminded voters on the
campaign trail that he helped sue the Trump administration "more
than a hundred times" as a deputy in the New York state attorney
general's office.
In an interview with Reuters earlier this year, Weinstein said,
"Nobody is above the law, no matter who you are or what office you
went on to occupy."
Whoever prevails is likely to become a target for Trump, who has
dismissed the probe as a "witch hunt" and attacked Vance personally.
The winner will also have the opportunity to alter prosecutorial
policies in the country's biggest city, following last year's
widespread protests over policing and racial injustice.
Most of the candidates have vowed to prosecute fewer low-level
crimes as part of a broader effort to address racial bias.
Bragg told Reuters earlier this year that more than 80% of the
city's criminal docket consists of misdemeanors or lesser crimes.
"We need to drastically shrink that footprint," he said. "Many of
those cases have absolutely nothing to do with public safety."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Jun/21/images/062121PIX/graue_21ENCORE_062121.png)
Weinstein also said she would shrink the number of cases by
declining to prosecute those that do not advance public safety. But
she also said she would use resources to ensure New Yorkers are
safe.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Aurora Ellis
and Simon Cameron-Moore)
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