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The Race ...
Brooklyn District Attorney
Know about something you don't see here? Let us know at campaign05@gothamgazette.com
General Election Results
Charles Hynes
Primary Results
Charles Hynes
The Incumbent:
Charles Hynes
General Election Challenger(s):
Primary Election Challenger(s):
Arnold Kriss
Mark Peters
John Sampson
Feature Articles ...
Politics and Prosecutors
March 7, 2005
As they prosecute crimes, district attorneys are supposed to be above politics. But to keep their jobs, the prosecutors have to win elections. And this year, two city DAs face unusually tough election challenges. More ...
The Incumbent:
Charles Hynes | Dem | Rep | Con |
Charles Hynes was elected as the attorney of Kings County, New York in 1989. He has served as special state prosecutor for the New York City criminal justice system. For two year, he served as New York City Fire Commissioner under Mayor Ed Koch.
Challenger(s):
Arnold Kriss | Dem |
A former assistant District Attorney, Arnold Kriss also served as a lawyer for the police department. He has been in private practice in Brooklyn for more than 20 years and since 1996, has been counsel for the not for profit corporation that runs the San Gennaro Feast in Little Italy.
Mark Peters | Dem |
Mark G. Peters is former chief of the New York State Attorney General's Public Integrity Unit. In that capacity he served as Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's Chief Corruption Prosecutor.
John Sampson | Dem |
A former staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society, John Sampson was elected to the New York State Senate in 1996. He represents the 19th Senatorial District, which encompasses Canarsie, East Flatbush and parts of Brownsville, Crown Heights and East New York. He also continues to work as an attorney with a private law firm.
Campaign Trail ...
Below are the latest Campaign Trail items for the Brooklyn District Attorney race. For the full Campaign Trail archive, go here
Paper Ballots Are New Front in Brooklyn Surrogate Battle
October 27, 2005
It was not a race that captured much public attention, but to many on the inside of Democratic politics in Brooklyn, the party's nomination for a surrogate judgeship has been a highly contentious battle, since the position controls the awarding of millions of dollars in fees for handling Brooklynites' wills and estates.
(NY Times)
Hynes Wins Fierce Battle for Brooklyn DA
September 14, 2005
Charles Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney, turned back the challenges of three opponents last night in a fiercely fought Democratic primary in which three challengers attacked Hynes’ conduct as DA. Hynes is virtually assured victory in the general election in heavily Democratic Brooklyn, where the Republicans have yet to select a candidate. (New York Times)
Daily Challenge Endorses Sampson
September 12, 2005
The Daily Challenge is endorsing the candidacy of the Hon. John L. Sampson, a New York State Senator, for the office of Brooklyn District Attorney. Sampson’s experience as a litigator, civic leader, and activist counts for a balanced and fair leadership that seeks to improve the quality of life for every Brooklyn resident.
Brooklyn DA Challengers Attack Hynes
September 10, 2005
The three challengers in the increasingly heated contest for Brooklyn district attorney spent yesterday denouncing incumbent Charles Hynes. Many of the attacks have come in the wake of reports that Hynes accepted contributions totaling about $80,000 from people connected to the family of Isaac Chehebar, a driver of a car that killed two girls in April 2001. Chehebar, then 21, agreed to a plea arrangement with the district attorney's office for criminally negligent homicide and was released after serving four months. (New York Times)
September 1, 2005
We choose Arnold N. Kriss for Brooklyn district attorney.
Mr. Kriss knows the police department. He has 32 years experience in criminal justice and he has been a senior supervising assistant district attorney.
He has worked for the police department and has prosecuted policemen.
He has been a private attorney as well as the chairman of New York City's health and hospitals corporation's Personnel Review Board - it's Civil Service Commission.
While he has worked in jobs increasingly close to the political process, one has never heard of his disparagingly being referred to as a politician, or in the pockets of one group of people or another. (Amsterdam News)
August 29, 2005
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles "Joe" Hynes is seeking a fifth term as the chief law enforcement officer of the state's biggest county. He shouldn't get it. Brooklyn needs a more effective and scrupulously nonpartisan prosecutor.
Hynes' glory years are behind him. Once he was a groundbreaking special Medicaid fraud prosecutor. Once he brought to justice the gang responsible for the Howard Beach racial attack. Today, he presides over a DA's office with the state's lowest felony conviction rates, and he's battling to salvage his reputation after failing to recognize that the Brooklyn Democratic organization, his sponsor, was trafficking in courthouse corruption.
Three lawyers are challenging Hynes. The best is Mark Peters, a longtime prosecutor who capped a successful career in the state attorney general's office as Eliot Spitzer's chief corruption fighter.
A former clerk to a federal judge, Peters has led complex white-collar and civil rights investigations, shut down a band of rogue cops upstate and smashed a Bronx ring that funneled state funds to a politician. Peters knows his way around a courtroom, has the management experience to run a large law firm and will attract the talent needed to overhaul Hynes' office. (Daily News)
Challengers See a Conflict Over Plea Deal and Donations
September 6, 2005
The candidates challenging Charles J. Hynes for Brooklyn district attorney called yesterday for an investigation into some campaign contributions collected by him, based on reports that the district attorney's re-election organization accepted money from people connected to the family of a driver who received a plea-bargain sentence in a fatal 2001 car crash.
The contributions, which were reported yesterday in The New York Post, amounted to about $80,000. They came from people connected to the family of Isaac Chehebar, the driver of a Porsche that struck a group of people and killed Inna Shetman, 15, and her sister, Svetlana, 10, who were walking home on a median along Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn in April 2001. Mr. Chehebar, 21 at the time, agreed to a plea arrangement for criminally negligent homicide under which he would serve six months in jail. He was released after serving four months.
Mr. Chehebar's family owns several clothing stores in Brooklyn. (New York Times)
Carib News "Unhesitatingly" Endorses Sampson
September 7, 2005
We unhesitatingly recommend New York State Senator John Sampson to the voters of the Democratic Party. A proven campaigner with a calming presence and a determined vote getter with many years of legal practice at the criminal and civil bar, Sampson would bring to the DA's office a breath of fresh air, not to mention even-handed law to enforcement. A New Yorker with roots that stretch from the South and the Northeast of the United States to the Caribbean nation of Guyana, Senator Sampson has not been touched by scandal or the slightest hint of wrongdoing. In addition, he has a record of accomplishment in Albany. (Carib News Editorial Board)
New York Times Endorsement: Charles Hynes for Brooklyn DA
September 7, 2005
In the district attorney's race, Charles Hynes, the 16-year incumbent, is vying for a fifth four-year term against Arnold Kriss, a former assistant district attorney and police department lawyer now in private law practice; Mark Peters, a private attorney who gained prosecutorial experience in the state attorney general's office; and John Sampson, an undistinguished incumbent state senator who is closely aligned with Mr. Norman. Voters should see the Sampson campaign for what it is: an audacious attempt by the Democratic machine to derail Mr. Hyne's continuing political corruption investigation. With that in mind, we endorse Mr. Hynes for one final, legacy-enhancing term. (New York Times)
Post Endorses Hynes for Brooklyn DA
September 7, 2005
The paper says that the Brooklyn district attorney is “a known quantity with a proven record of accomplishment and integrity,” while “none of the challengers strikes us as sufficiently experienced or prepared to perform as well as Hynes.” (New York Post)
Brooklyn DA Contest Poses a Conundrum
September 6, 2005
The three challengers running against Brooklyn's longtime district attorney Charles Hynes in the Democratic primary all argue that he is old, tired, and ineffective. But even those who agree that Hynes' office has been adrift worry that the candidate with the best shot at winning, State Senator John Sampson, may bring new and bigger problems should he capture the office. The borough’s indicted Democratic Party leader, Clarence Norman, has not formally endorsed Sampson but told the Village Voice, “I will be doing everything in my power to get rid of Joe Hynes by telling all of the people I can to vote for John Sampson.”
(Village Voice)
September 1, 2005
Embattled Brooklyn Democratic party boss Clarence Norman has been handing out flyers for district attorney candidate state Sen. John Sampson - even though Sampson denies Norman is backing him. (Daily News)
Full Brooklyn District Attorney Campaign Trail Archive
Brooklyn District Attorney Campaign Trail in RSS format. 

