The If and When Race
Snyder and Davis would challenge “90 in ’09,” others consider their options.

By Edward-Isaac Dovere

On July 31, 2009, Robert Morgenthau will turn 90 years old. On Sept. 8, 2009, he is planning to run in and win the Democratic primary in search of his 10th term as Manhattan district attorney.

That, at least, is what those close to him insist, batting down an early retirement rumor which appeared in December on “Page Six” as a misinterpreted sighting of Morgenthau having lunch with Cyrus Vance Jr.

But whether he runs again or not, Leslie Crocker Snyder and Richard Davis confirmed that they plan to seek the office he holds next year.

Most prospective candidates either revere Morgenthau or are aware of how many others revere Morgenthau to even consider running against him. Snyder, a former prosecutor and former Manhattan Supreme Court judge, is not among them.

“Regarding Bob Morgenthau, I have heard from many that he has expressed outrage that anyone would have the temerity to run against him,” Snyder explained.

“That is unfortunate but irrelevant.”

Her take on the 2009 race was simple.

“I am planning to run for Manhattan district attorney regardless of who may run,” she wrote in an email.

Davis, who is chair of Citizens Union, has experience as an assistant Treasury secretary for enforcement and operations. He also served on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force and in the United States Attorney’s Office. He is currently an attorney in private practice.

He said he plans to make a final decision about running in the next few weeks.
“I know Bob Morgenthau and I have a high regard for him, but if I decide to run, I will run even if he decides to seek reelection,” Davis said. “I just think at this stage, it’s time that somebody else stepped up to that position. If I decide to do this, I will have concluded that I can do the job and continue that tradition.”

Davis said he has been having discussions with many in the legal, civic and government communities as he mulls a run.

They may face Morgenthau. But if the retirement rumors prove true—and Morgenthau and those around him have been laboring to put them to rest—Snyder and Davis may face an appointed incumbent or an open race. Any race without Morgenthau, however, seems set to be crowded.

Vance, the son of the former secretary of state and himself a former assistant district attorney under Morgenthau, is a trial attorney in private practice and a member of the state sentencing commission. He said there is no deal in the works for Morgenthau to retire early in order to have Gov. Eliot Spitzer appoint him to fill out Morgenthau’s term. Spitzer, another former Morgenthau assistant district attorney, remains close to his former boss and mentor.

Vance said he is considering a run for whenever Morgenthau is not in the race.
“I am actively exploring running for the district attorney’s office at that point that the district attorney is not running,” he said. “At this point, I’m talking to people and getting advice from people, and I’m going to make a decision in the first quarter of 2008.”

Like Vance, most interested candidates expect to defer to Morgenthau. But a race without Morgenthau—the first in 35 years—could quickly become very crowded, with many expecting a field that could feature Vance, Catherine Abate, Eric Schneiderman, Dan Castelman, Davis and Snyder, among others.

Abate, a former city corrections commissioner and chair of the State Crime Victim’s Board, gave up her state senate seat from Lower Manhattan to run in the 1998 Democratic attorney general primary, placing second. She currently serves as the president and CEO of the Community Health Care Network.

Abate said that she felt her professional background and her previous experience campaigning and fundraising would serve her well were she to enter a race without Morgenthau. But the uncertainty surrounding Morgenthau’s future, she admitted, created a predicament for anyone who might try preparing a campaign.

“That is something I really have to come to terms with: how do I plan for the seat not knowing when and if it becomes open?” she said.

Schneiderman, whose State Senate district runs from the Upper West Side up through the Bronx, said he has considered the race but is not currently focused on electing a Democratic majority in the State Senate.

Notably, if this happens, Schneiderman would likely become chair of the codes committee, making him a preeminent voice on Rockefeller drug law reform and other things which could help provide a platform for a district attorney run. He is also the only candidate being discussed who is currently in office—and, other than Abate, the only one who has ever even run before—giving him a base of support and database of potential donors to call on if he enters the race. And because the city elections are never the same year as state legislature elections, Schneiderman could run without sacrificing his State Senate seat.

Dan Castleman, Morgenthau’s longtime chief of investigations, is also widely discussed as a potential candidate. He said he would not run against Morgenthau.
But asked whether he is interested in running in a race which did not include Morgenthau—whether in 2009, 2013 or at any point—Castleman said he “couldn’t answer that unless the occasion were to arise.”

Some feel that he, not Vance, would be Morgenthau’s favored choice for a successor, a rumor Castleman addressed only by noting that he expected Morgenthau to seek re-election.

“I will be guided by what the boss decides to do,” he said. “As far as I know he is planning to run again. I hope to be here with him.”

In 2005, when Snyder gave Morgenthau his first challenge in 20 years, she ran on her record and on the idea that the time had come for a change in the office. But when the votes were counted, she won just 41 percent to Morgenthau’s 59.

Asked if the concerns that Morgenthau had been around too long would be even greater in 2009, making him more vulnerable than in his last race, political consultant Jerry Skurnik was torn.

“On the one hand, yeah,” he said. “On the other hand, I think Snyder sort of snuck up on him. He didn’t take her for granted, but the fact that she probably did better than expected, that might get his campaign to prepare and work harder and maybe go negative on her.”

At this point, observers say Morgenthau seems more inclined to die in office than to retire, no matter how many terms that may take him. He may own a chicken farm upstate, but those close to him say that the prospect of him spending his last years spreading feed or playing shuffleboard in Florida seems unlikely. If he were not actually planning to run, goes the thinking, he would spend his time fundraising for the philanthropic causes which are so dear to him—he is chairman of the Police Athletic League and of the Museum of Jewish Heritage—and not for his own campaign committee.

Eben Bronfman, Morgenthau’s 2005 campaign manager and currently an informal advisor, said that the district attorney was feeling very confident about his 2009 chances. Bronfman cited the continuing decline in homicides and other crimes in the borough and successful white collar crime prosecutions as easy rationale for voters to re-elect Morgenthau.

And he said they would definitely get the chance.

“He’s definitely running,” Bronfman said. “If his health is at the same point it is now, he will be running.”

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