Retiring Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau endorsed a former deputy, Cyrus Vance Jr. yesterday to succeed him in the office he has held for 34 years.
Morgenthau, who had worked with and supervised all three candidates when they worked as prosecutors, called his office the best district attorney's office in the United States" and said he was supporting Vance "because he is the best qualified, by his
experience and his views, to keep it the best."
Asked about the ethics of endorsing a potential successor, Morgenthau said the state bar association concluded that it was appropriate for an outgoing district attorney who was not running for anything to endorse a successor candidate.
Vance said it was a "true honor" to have Morgenthau's endorsement. He said he wanted "to continue the traditions of fairness, justice and integrity for which the Manhattan's district attorney's office is now known.
Vance is running against Richard Aborn and Leslie Crocker Snyder, a former judge in the state Supreme Court and Morgenthau's chief opponent in 2005, in the Sept. 15 Democratic primary. In heavily Democratic Manhattan, winning the primary is tantamount to
winning the office.
Hard feelings apparently developed between Snyder and Morgenthau is the 2005 race, and he refused to discuss her Thursday, saying only, "This is Cy's day."
Morgenthau, who turns 90 in July, was joined by former Mayor David Dinkins and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum in praising Vance as the candidate most likely to continue the office's current policies of fairness and innovation.
Dinkins called Vance a "true progressive who is on the right side of issues that people in Manhattan care about." Gotbaum said Morgenthau's shoes "will be large shoes to fill, but I believe Cy Vance is the one to fill those shoes."
Vance, 55, was a prosecutor in the Morgenthau's office from 1982 until 1988, when he moved to Seattle to practice law at a firm he helped establish and to teach at a law school. He and his wife, Peggy, have two children.
The race is shaping up to be more competitive than the New York City mayor's race.
Because of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's bottomless pockets and relative popularity, he seems to be headed for a third term in office.
Vance, son of the former U.S. secretary of state, received another high-profile endorsement Tuesday when Caroline Kennedy showed up at a fundraiser for him. It was her first political appearance since she was considered for Hillary Rodham Clinton's
seat in the U.S. Senate.
Morgenthau's top aide, Daniel Castleman, had wanted the top job but changed his mind about running and resigned from the office after learning the district attorney would not endorse him.
Castleman also had been an adviser and actor on the HBO TV hit "The Sopranos."
