Brooklyn Boro

Eric Gonzalez is no longer ‘acting’ Brooklyn DA

After Election win, Gonzalez now DA Elect

November 8, 2017 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Eric Gonzalez (right) has been Brooklyn’s “acting” district attorney since October, when his predecessor Ken Thompson (left) died, but he officially shed that title after winning the general election on Tuesday. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese
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Eric Gonzalez can finally drop the “acting” before his title of district attorney after he officially won the general election on Tuesday night when he picked up more than 89 percent of the votes. Now he’s just got to deal with the title of DA-elect for the next two months.

DA-elect Gonzalez picked up 244,013 votes on Tuesday with Councilmember Vincent Gentile grabbing 10.9 percent, or 29,915 votes, on the Reform Party ticket. Gonzalez is the first Hispanic-American to be elected district attorney in New York state’s history.

There were a total of six Democratic candidates vying for the Brooklyn DA title in the primary, including Gonzalez, Gentile, Patricia Gatling, Ama Dwimoh, Marc Fliedner and Anne Swern. Gonzalez got 76,947 votes in that race to win the primary. No Republicans ran in the race.

Gentile switched to the Reform Party line following the primary, but he did not actively campaign following his Sept. 12 loss to Gonzalez. Many of the votes Gentile received this past Tuesday came from South Brooklyn, where he represents Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and parts of Bath Beach and Bensonhurst in the City Council.

Gonzalez has served as acting DA for more than a year since former DA Ken Thompson stepped away from the office last October to undergo cancer treatment. Thompson died just a week after his brief break and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he would stick with Gonzalez as the acting DA.

Thompson named Gonzalez, 48, his No. 2 prior to his death and helped him put together the Wrongful Convictions Unit that led to 23 people being freed from prison.

Despite the fact that Gonzalez rose to such a high level under Thompson, he did not have aspirations to run the DA’s Office until after his death and bristled at the thought of being considered a politician.

Still, Gonzalez, a political neophyte, was able to raise $1.6 million, more than all of the other candidates combined, and eventually won the primary in a landslide while campaigning on his record of wrongful convictions, protecting immigrants, and safer streets in Brooklyn. He also promised reforms including working to close Rikers Island and bail reform.

 

Fliedner Loses Write-In Campaign

After a loss in the primaries, Marc Fliedner mounted a write-in campaign for Manhattan DA against incumbent Cyrus Vance, who otherwise ran unopposed. Fliedner lost, but managed to pick up nearly 10 percent of the vote, more than 16,000 votes total, via write-ins.

Fliedner jumped into the Manhattan race in early October after news coverage critical of Vance accused him of allegedly failing to pursue cases against Harvey Weinstein as well as Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump. Various reports stated the Vance’s campaign also accepted money from attorneys representing Weinstein and the Trumps.

 

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