BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — The race to succeed Ken Thompson, the Brooklyn District Attorney who died after suffering from cancer last year, is coming to a close with six hopefuls frantically vying to win the Democratic Party’s nod as the city votes Sept. 12.
Since the roughly 990,000 registered voters in Brooklyn are Democrats and the primary winner will face off against a 78-year-old Republican who doesn’t even have a website, the odds are good that Tuesday’s vote will decide who becomes the borough’s next district attorney. (For more information on the election, including results, subscribe to Patch’s daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)
But predicting which of the six hopefuls will take Ken Thompson’s seat is a tricky business. Several of the candidates have decades of experience in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office. And recent polls show the favorite, Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzales, faces strong opposition from two other candidates.
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Deciding which candidate will best be able to replace Thompson will not be a simple task. Which is why Patch created a rundown of the candidates, detailing their experience, platforms and, of course, scandals.
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Ama Dwimoh
Background: Ama Dwimoh has more than 20 years experience in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, serving first as an assistant district attorney in the Special Victims bureau, then as a senior attorney in the Homicide Bureau and finally as chief of the Crimes Against Children Bureau, which she founded in 1997. Dwimoh currently serves as special counsel to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
Platform: Dwimoh’s agenda focuses strongly on preventing wrongful convictions. She promises to develop a Commission on Prosecutorial Misconduct to review overturned cases, create an Integrity Officer position to review specific cases, and to the expand the Conviction Review Unit, which Thompson created to review questionable cases.
Advantages: Dwimoh has the support of Adams, who contributed $10,000 to her campaign, and a notable case record which includes convictions in the death of seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown,
Scandals: Dwimoh left the Brooklyn DA’s office after an internal investigation in 2010 revealed she exhibited “abusive behavior” toward subordinates and may have falsified her time sheets, the New York Post reported.
Total Campaign Contributions: $205,172.83
Marc Fliedner
Background: Fliedner has served in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office since the 1980s where he has served as an assistant district attorney in the Special Victims Unit under Elizabeth Holtzman, the chief of Major Narcotics Investigations Bureau under Charles Hynes, and chief of the Civil Rights Bureau under Ken Thompson. Fliedner left the office in 2016 to open a civil rights practice.
Platform: Fliedner promises to change how the district attorney’s office prosecutes police officers and to fight against mass incarceration.
Advantages: Fliedner’s reputation for successfully prosecuting police officers such as Joel Edouard, who stomped on a civilian’s head in Bed-Stuy, and Peter Liang who shot the unarmed Akai Gurley in East New York, earned him an endorsement from Our Revolution, the progressive group born from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. As the only openly gay candidate, he also has strong support from the LGBT community.
Scandals: Fliedner left the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office in 2016 after Ken Thompson accused him of failing to disclose evidence during the trial of Martin Wayne, whose double murder conviction was later overturned. Fliedner said he had been victim of a “smear campaign.”
Total Campaign Contributions: Undisclosed
Patricia Gatling
Background: Gatling started out as an assistant district attorney under Elizabeth Holtzman and later became the bureau chief of narcotics for former Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes, who later named her First Assistant DA. Gatling also served as Commissioner of the NYC Commission on Human Rights and in 2015 was appointed Governor Cuomo’s deputy secretary for civil rights for New York State. She currently practices law with the firm Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP.
Platform: Gatling wants to develop an app to help Brooklynites navigate the borough’s justice system, improve the relationship between police officers and diverse communities with an ambassador program, and to strengthen local gun laws.
Advantages: Gatling had a head start as the first candidate to announce she would run to replace Ken Thompson.
Scandals: Gatling has come under fire for her ties to former district attorney Charles Hynes, whose tenure was marred by accusations of fraud and wrongful convictions. The New York Post also reported a brawl at her campaign headquarters resulted in the arrest of teen staffers.
Total Campaign Contributions: $250,275
Vincent “Vinnie” Gentile
Background: Gentile has represented Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst as the 43rd district city councilman for the past 14 years. He previously served under Queens County District Attorney Richard A Brown in Special Victim’s and Narcotics Bureaus. In 1996, he was elected state senator of the 23rd District in Staten Island.
Platform: Gentile proposes to implement law enforcement reforms by supporting the Right To Know Act, decriminalizing low-level first offenses and strengthen the Begin Again program which forgives warrants for minor offenses. He would also reorganize and strengthen the Elder Abuse unit.
Advantages: Gentile has been endorsed by four big unions — Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, Communications Workers-America 1109, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 94 and Law Enforcement Security & Police Benevolent Association — that represent about 30,000 workers in total. He’s also touting his lack of experience in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office as a plus — it means he never worked with the controversial Hynes.
Scandals: Gentile made headlines in 2016 when he was sued for bullying an autistic aide.
Total Campaign Contributions: $211,977
Eric Gonzalez
Background: Gonzalez was named Acting District Attorney after Thompson died in October. He joined the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office in 1995 as an assistant prosecutor handling cases involving sex crimes. During the Hynes administration he was promoted to upper management and Thompson appointed him chief assistant district attorney in 2014.
Platform: Gonzalez has positioned himself as the man to expand and complete Thompson-era progressive initiatives, such as the Convictions Review Unit and the Begin Again program.
Advantages: As the acting district attorney, Gonzalez is the favorite. He has been endorsed by the New York Times, 15 elected officials including Comptroller Scott Stringer and Letitia James, and nine major New York City unions, including the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
Scandals: Gonzalez has been taking advantage of a rent break intended for low-income senior citizens, the Daily News reported.
Total Campaign Contributions: $1,852,347.87
Anne Swern
Background: Swern served in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office for 33 years and as managing counsel for Brooklyn Defenders Services for one year. As an assistant district attorney, Swern lead the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison program.
Platform: Swern promises to expand the Conviction Review Unit to include all crimes, promote transparency by compiling and releasing Brooklyn-based crime data, implement bail reforms and create adolescent criminal courts to handle felony cases.
Advantages: Swern is a longshot with what pollsters estimate is about 3 percent support from Brooklyn registered Democrats. But she has been endorsed by two Brooklyn political organizations: Independent Neighborhood Democrats and Brooklyn Democrats For Change.
Scandals: The New York Post reported Swern tried to sue the city for $5 million after she tripped on a Brooklyn sidewalk on the way out of a yoga class.
Total Campaign Contributions: $328,675.45
The New York State Board of Elections provided campaign contribution data.
Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office/Facebook
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