Former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah has defeated incumbent Anthony Scarpino in the Democratic primary for Westchester County district attorney.

The primary pitted Rocah, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, against the incumbent Scarpino, a former FBI special agent and a former judge.

Rocah declared victory in the primary and issued a statement saying the outcome is a "strong mandate from voters."

"They want change in Westchester's criminal justice system as our nation reckons with police misconduct, demands greater accountability and ethics reform at all levels of government," she said in the statement.

The conclusion of the primary race comes weeks after widespread protests against police brutality and racial injustice seized the nation's attention, sparking larger conversations about criminal justice reform. The demonstrations across the United States followed the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

In recent years, local prosecutorial elections across the U.S. have shaped up as battlegrounds over criminal justice reforms. That included a primary election in Albany County, where incumbent District Attorney David Soares beat back a challenge from Matt Toporowski, a former assistant in his office.

In the Westchester County primary, the race had been punctuated with criticism that Scarpino did not do enough to investigate police misconduct.

Scarpino issued a statement saying he called Rocah on Thursday to congratulate her on the primary election win. Scarpino, in the statement, added that he looks forward to backing her and other Democrats in November.

"It has been my distinct honor to serve as District Attorney and I am grateful to the people of Westchester for affording me the opportunity to do so since 2017," he said in a statement. "I am extraordinarily proud of the public servants in the District Attorney's Office who dedicate every day to create a safer, more just County for all."

Rocah, in her statement, said she appreciated the call and looks forward to working with Scarpino to "ensure Democrats come together to deliver true reform to the Westchester DA's office."

On Thursday, her campaign reported that less than 30,000 paper ballots still need to be counted, but Rocah had received more than 66,200 votes compared with about 25,300 for Scarpino. 

Rocah says more can be done locally to improve the criminal justice system, like when it comes to conviction integrity, transparency and community partnerships on preventing gun violence.

"The need for accountability and fairness in our criminal justice system has never been clearer, and I am committed to addressing racial inequality and ensuring true justice for all," she said in the statement.

Rocah, a distinguished fellow in criminal justice at Pace University's law school, spent more than 16 years as a federal prosecutor and was also chief of the Westchester Division at the Department of Justice.

Her campaign has put out a plan for transparency, which includes releasing a list of people in law enforcement who are not permitted to be used as witnesses because they have compromised their integrity. The release of that list would happen on regular intervals.

White Plains resident Bruce Bendish, a name partner in Goodrich & Bendish, is slated to run for DA on the Republican Party line in the November election, according to the Journal-News lohud.com website.

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