Despite low voter turnout in Tuesday's Democratic primary, Cyrus R. Vance Jr. bested his two opponents in the race for Manhattan district attorney with a sizeable lead.
Six months after announcing his candidacy, Mr. Vance, 55, captured 44 percent of the vote, while 30 percent cast their ballot for his most formidable and well-known opponent, former Acting Supreme Court Justice Leslie Crocker Snyder.
Twenty-six percent of Manhattan voters selected Richard M. Aborn, 57, a managing partner at Constantine Cannon.
Nearly 15 percent of Manhattan's registered Democrats turned out for the district attorney primary, casting 102,749 ballots.
Since there is no Republican running in November's general election, Mr. Vance's victory Tuesday essentially guarantees he will succeed veteran District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau.
After chants of "Cy's my guy" died down at a victory party Tuesday night at Bourbon Street Bar and Grille in Hell's Kitchen, Mr. Vance thanked his gathered supporters, which included several attorneys and political leaders, and his wife, Peggy McDonnell.
Mr. Vance, who had the backing of The New York Times, the Post and the Daily News, said in an interview yesterday that he felt "fantastic" and was "very proud" of his campaign.
"I think we ran a good campaign both in substance and operation and a campaign that stayed with the right tone, which was important to me," said Mr. Vance, a principal at Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer.
Mr. Morgenthau, 90, who plans to retire at the end of the year after 36 years in office and endorsed Mr. Vance, said in an interview yesterday, "I think it's a victory for the people of Manhattan and New York City."
He acknowledged that Mr. Vance would "definitely make some changes," but said the office would retain its "core values," meaning "the staff, the outstanding men and women committed to prosecuting without fear and favor."
Mr. Vance said yesterday it was "premature to talk about personnel changes." And while he said he certainly respected the "great number of extraordinarily dedicated assistants," he added that any staff changes "will be my decision as district attorney."
Mr. Vance stressed that he had laid out "an agenda that is certainly a departure from Bob Morgenthau's current policies."
A champion of community-based justice, Mr. Vance has vowed he will "assign teams of prosecutors to specific precincts and neighborhoods" and establish an office in Washington Heights.
He also has said he will make a priority reducing Criminal Court backlog, establish a Conviction Integrity Panel to examine allegations of wrongful convictions, create a Family Justice Center to provide integrated services for domestic violence victims, aggressively go after white-collar crime, and focus on alternatives to incarceration. He also has pledged to form a host of specialized units, including public integrity, immigrant affairs and hate crimes units.
But Mr. Vance said that 18 hours after the election, it was "hard to say" which policy he would pursue first. However, he stressed that one of the first things he will do is take an "internal audit" of the office, reach out to forge relationships with current staff, and aggressively "walk to the various units and the courtrooms to make sure I understand how things are operating."
Negative Tone
In the final weeks in the campaign, personal attacks, not policy, had taken center stage.
In a recent TV ad, Ms. Snyder, 67, who unsuccessfully tried to unseat Mr. Morgenthau in 2005, told voters that Mr. Vance had "fled" to Seattle for 17 years during the height of the 1980s crack epidemic, to "make millions defending criminals." Ms. Snyder, a partner at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, also accused Mr. Vance of being part of the "old-boys network" that included Mr. Morgenthau.
The negative refrain, which was repeated in mailers and debates, did not pay off in the end.
"You just can't make the argument it has to do with the old-boy's network," said Linda Fairstein, a Vance supporter and best-selling author, who headed the sex crimes unit in the district attorney's office for roughly 30 years.
She also noted that Mr. Vance had gained not only her support, but that of Gloria Steinem, Anna Quindlen and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.
At the Vance victory party, Richard H. Girgenti, a principal at KPMG who spent 17 years at the district attorney's office, said Ms. Snyder's attacks on defense attorneys were "a shame."
"For any lawyer to criticize a lawyer for people accused of crimes either shows you don't understand what being a lawyer is or they totally compromised their principles," Mr. Girgenti said. "She knows better than that."
Mr. Girgenti also said that Mr. Vance, who has "great judgment and character," was most focused on ensuring that the district attorney's office rendered fair judgments, while maintaining public safety.
Many criminal defense lawyers "voted for anybody" but Ms. Snyder because from their experiences with her on the bench they "did not trust her commitment to do justice as opposed to winning at any cost," said Daniel Arshack, a former president of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, who said he was impressed with Mr. Vance's proposals for the office.
"I think [Mr. Vance] has a genuine interest in that office as an institution, criminal justice issues, and improving the system," said defense attorney Gerald Shargel. "I never had a sense that he ran for self-aggrandizement. I think he's the real deal."
And Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said Mr. Vance, whom he endorsed two weeks ago, did not "pander" or go negative.
"It was about his own sense of what he wanted to do with the office," Mr. Stringer added.
Mr. Vance, who largely stayed above the fray, said yesterday he had resisted pressure from many in his campaign to respond to negative comments in kind.
"I didn't believe that was the direction I wanted to take or the campaign I wanted to run," he said. "And I am glad I made that decision."
Ms. Snyder said Tuesday that after taking a vacation "to decompress," she intends in the future to find a way to serve New Yorkers. She did not issue a post-election statement.
In an e-mail yesterday to supporters, Mr. Aborn wrote that while Tuesday's outcome "wasn't exactly what we had hoped for," he supports Mr. Vance and congratulates him on his victory, "as he works to implement changes and will be ready to assist if needed."
Mr. Aborn also told supporters, "By articulating a strongly progressive, prevention-oriented platform and speaking directly and honestly about racial justice, we have helped reshaped criminal justice thinking in New York."
@|Noeleen.Walder@incisivemedia.com. Daniel Wise contributed to this report.
