Hynes to Run for District Attorney as a Republican

Mr. Hynes is a lifelong Democrat, but secured spots on the Republican and Conservative Party lines of the ballot for this year’s election. He had said he would not actively campaign as the candidate of those parties and promised a smooth transition to the man who defeated him, Kenneth P. Thompson, but changed his mind and decided to run this week after Republican leaders and longtime supporters urged him to campaign, said his spokesman, Jerry Schmetterer.

In part, the decision was also driven by reports that Clarence Norman, a former chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party and former assemblyman who was convicted of accepting illegal campaign contributions, had helped Mr. Thompson’s get-out-the-vote efforts on Primary Day, Mr. Schmetterer said. Mr. Thompson has emphatically denied working with Mr. Norman.

At a fund-raiser organized by a few longtime supporters Wednesday night at a restaurant in Bay Ridge, Mr. Hynes raised $ 150,000, Mr. Schmetterer said. About 50 attendees clapped and chanted his name as Mr. Hynes said that he “wants to continue the fight on crime, he wants to continue the fight to keep Brooklyn safe, and with everyone’s support he’ll continue to do that,” said Phil Fahey, a Bay Ridge businessman who attended the event.

Mr. Hynes will make an official announcement at a rally on the steps of Borough Hall on Tuesday, Mr. Schmetterer said.

In a statement, the chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Committee, Frank R. Seddio, said: “Ken Thompson won the primary fair and square. This is no time for Joe Hynes to turn his back on the Democratic Party. The cynical Republican-led effort to create an internecine feud among Democrats in the race for Brooklyn district attorney will end in failure.”

Mr. Thompson expressed disappointment at Mr. Hynes’s decision.

“It’s sad that Mr. Hynes refuses to accept the will of the people, as he repeatedly pledged to do last month. We look forward to a clear contrast between Democrat Ken Thompson and Republican Joe Hynes, who has lied to the public so that he can run with Joe Lhota and the Tea Party forces in the Republican Party who have shut down the government,” said James Freedland, a spokesman for Mr. Thompson. “And we are confident all of Brooklyn’s voters will render the same overwhelming verdict as they did in the primary.”

Yahoo Local News – New York Times

http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=14999

via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info