A Republican prosecutor promising to root out statehouse corruption is facing a Democratic state senator vowing to protect the interests of everyday New Yorkers in Tuesday’s attorney general’s race.
Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, 53, said he is independent of the political ties he says hamstring his opponent.
Sen. Eric Schneiderman, 55, said his experience as a sheriff’s deputy, public interest and corporate attorney and lawmaker make him better prepared for the job as the state’s top lawyer.
The attorney general, with about 625 lawyers, defends New York in lawsuits and files suits, protects consumers, monitors charities and sometimes conducts investigations and prosecutions.
Current Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is running for governor.
Polls haven’t shown a clear front-runner in the race as the candidates have traded high-profile endorsements. Former President Bill Clinton has endorsed Schneiderman, while independent New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports Donovan.
Donovan, whose name is also on the Conservative Party line, is a native of Staten Island, where he has been elected twice. A career prosecutor who was deputy borough president, he said he reorganized the DA’s office to increase prosecutions and said Staten Island is the safest borough in what FBI data show to be the safest big city in America.
According to Donovan, the scandals in Albany the past two years call for somebody willing to crack down and restore confidence in government.
Schneiderman, a senator from Manhattan’s Upper West Side for 12 years, said he’s led reform efforts in Albany, where the Senate leadership eight years ago tried to redistrict him out of the Legislature. This year he led the Senate investigation that resulted in the expulsion of a fellow lawmaker.
Schneiderman, who has broad union backing, won a five-way primary for the Democratic nomination. His name is also on the Working Families and Independence party lines.
Two minor party candidates, the Libertarian Party’s Carl Person and the Freedom Party’s Ramon Jimenez, are also on Tuesday’s ballot.
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN,Associated Press
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.