GOVERNMENT

D.A. special election set for next fall

Governor could appoint interim D.A.

Posted

Nassau County voters will choose their next district attorney in November 2015, ten months after current D.A. Kathleen Rice leaves the post for a seat in Congress. Meanwhile, Rice’s top deputy or an appointee of Gov. Andrew Cuomo will take the reins as the county’s head prosecutor.

Rice, a Democrat from Garden City who has been D.A. for nine years, defeated Bruce Blakeman, a Republican and former county legislator and Port Authority commissioner, this month in New York’s 4th Congressional District race. She will take over for retiring Rep. Carolyn McCarthy on Jan. 3 next year.

Who will replace Rice as Nassau’s D.A. is an open question. Cuomo can name an interim successor anytime between Jan. 3 and Election Day on Nov. 3, according to Paul Leonard, a spokesman for the D.A.’s office. Otherwise, Chief Assistant D.A. Madeline Singas will serve as the acting D.A., Leonard explained.

Cuomo’s office did not return a call for comment. News 12 reported that Rice said she favors Singas as her replacement. Leonard said Rice and Singas would not comment.

Pundits have mentioned several names as potential D.A. candidates, including, in addition to Singas, Jon Kaiman, chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority and Cuomo’s special adviser for Long Island storm recovery; John Venditto, the Town of Oyster Bay supervisor; Kate Murray, the Town of Hempstead supervisor; Charles Lavine, a state assemblyman; Wayne Wink, North Hempstead’s town clerk; Timothy Driscoll, a state supreme court judge; and Joseph Conway, a criminal defense attorney. If Cuomo were to appoint an interim D.A., he or she would enter the election with an incumbency advantage.

Whoever wins the special election for D.A. in 2015 will start a new four-year term, according to Leonard. This will reset the election schedule for the D.A.’s post. It and all other countywide positions were last up for election in 2013.