It ain’t over until it’s over, they say. Well, in this case it looks like Ken Thompson’s early effort to unite the Democratic Party and Jewish voting blocs behind him was strategically mounted to foil an attempt by Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes to run for reelection on the Republican and Conservative line.
Things might get complicated though, as is appears Mr. Hynes will actively campaign on Republican and Conservative party lines in a bid to keep his job, sources told The Post on Thursday.
“The DA is making a formal announcement Tuesday to lay out the reasons for his decision to continue the campaign,” said DA spokesman Jerry Schmetterer.
Schmetterer confirmed that a fundraiser held in Bay Ridge on Wednesday night raised about $150,000 for the Hynes reelection fight.
“He’s going to run on the Republican and Conservative line,” said a source close to Hynes.
According to The Post, Mr. Hynes is eager to keep his job because of allegations – first reported by The Post – that former Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Clarence Norman, who the DA sent to prison for selling judgeships, played a key role in Thompson’s victory.
“He’s outraged that Clarence Norman is involved. Everybody says Clarence Norman is all over town pounding on his chest saying he took Hynes out,” the source said. “We put Norman in jail, and Thompson put him on the payroll,” another source close to Hynes said.
UPDATE 12:05PM:
“It’s sad that Mr. Hynes refuses to accept the will of the people, as he repeatedly pledged to do last month,” said Thompson’s spokesman James Freedland. “We are confident all of Brooklyn’s voters will render the same overwhelming verdict as they did in the primary.”
Kings County Democratic Party chairman Frank Seddio issued the following statement: “Ken Thompson won the primary fair and square. This is no time for Joe Hynes to turn his back on the Democratic Party. We profoundly regret his action after a long and distinguished career in public service.”
“The cynical Republican-led effort to create an internecine feud among Democrats in the race for Brooklyn District Attorney will end in failure. Brooklyn Democrats are 100 percent united behind our candidate Ken Thompson who will win in November.”
(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)
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7 Responses
Hynes is a great DA and has served Brooklyn, including the Orthodox Jewish community, very well for many decades.
I still am not sure who I want to vote for but I keep getting ticked off when Thompson says that the people have spoken. THAT IS BOGUS! The voters in the democratic party spoke and the last time I checked the constitution still allows Republicans to vote.
When Hynes lost the primary, he said he will not campaign for office, as “THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN”. Now, he is going back on his word. I would never vote for him again, as I have in most of his previous elections. Obviously, he is not an honest man, a man of his word. Until shown differently, Thompson is.
This presents a big challenge to David Greenfield, who went all out in endorsing Hynes and denouncing Thompson in the primary. If Thompson is really as bad as Greenfield claimed, I expect him to come out again and support Hynes in his current bid. This of course will mean standing up to the Democratic party bosses in Brooklyn, but I still expect the Councilman to do the right thing and re-endorse Hynes.
@chuck schwab
Yes he has served his “frum” constituents well by doing all he can to keep them off the docket
Everyone else gets kind of short changed though.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Pretty stupid comment. By the way, it’s a NY Post article.
More power to him. Where does Thompson stand on stop and frisk( as if i didnt know the answer). His first act was to put Assistant DAs in precincts in high crime areas to monitor compliance with the judges ruling to stop the practice which rid our streets of a lot of gun crime.. That may give him more business because of the up tick in violent crime with guns but it also exposes us the cititzens to more crime. Always better to deal with the devil you know than the one you dont know and for all his failings we did well with HJynes as our DA so why change. if he runs as a Republican we should support him.