Twenty-two police unions from across New York state and Long Island endorsed Hempstead Town Supervisor and Republican district attorney candidate Kate Murray Wednesday morning in what her campaign calls a “clean sweep” of police support.
Union leaders say they support Murray’s proposed initiatives to tackle Nassau County’s major criminal issues, namely its heroin-abuse problem.
“We need somebody with a proactive plan, and Kate Murray is that person,” said James Carver, president of the Nassau Police Benevolent Association, which endorsed Murray’s candidacy in July.
Speaking at the Nassau PBA’s headquarters Monday morning, Murray said she would work to strengthen the DA office’s relationship with police officers and unions.
She said she would restart regular meetings with police unions and reinstate a program places assistant district attorneys in police academies to brief recruits on how to work with the office.
Murray called the endorsements “uniquely meaningful” because many of members of the unions have known her Democratic opponent, Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas, for more than a decade.
“Despite this fact, the police unions have spoken with one voice and endorsed my candidacy instead of that of the acting DA,” Murray said. “That speaks volumes in this important race.”
Carver said Singas’ promotion of her efforts to prosecute police officers in the county made it harder for him to believe the unions could establish a strong working relationship with her DA’s office.
“If a police officer does something wrong, obviously they’re not above the law and they go forward, but to make that a point in campaign literature, I think, is the wrong thing when there are so many other issues,” he said.
The endorsements, which bring the total number of police groups supporting Murray to 27, come after a week when Singas garnered backing from women’s groups, anti-drunken driving activists, current and former U.S. representatives and a former special narcotics prosecutor.
Singas’ campaign manager Isaac Goldberg said the acting DA’s experience as a prosecutor makes her the more qualified candidate.
“…(N)o amount of endorsements can hide the fact that career politician Kate Murray has never practiced criminal law a day in her life and has never prosecuted a single criminal case,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
Most recently, Singas’ campaign announced Tuesday that Robert Silbering, who worked as a New York City narcotics prosecutor from 1991 to 1997 and led the largest drug bust in city history, had endorsed the acting DA.
U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City), whom Singas replaced at the helm of the DA’s office in January, endorsed her former second-in-command Monday, along with advocates for stricter and more effective punishments for drunken and drugged driving.
On Oct. 1, four women’s rights groups — Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, NARAL New York, Eleanor’s Legacy and the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women — endorsed Singas, citing her role in starting the county’s Special Victims Bureau to focus on sex crimes and her support for abortion rights.
Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy announced her support for Singas last Tuesday, along with Village of Hempstead Mayor Wayne Hall and Sisters Against Violence In Our Communities.
All of Singas’ endorsers touted her 24 years’ experience as a criminal prosecutor, contrasting it with the fact that Murray has never tried a criminal case.
Murray said Wednesday that her experience as an assistant attorney general for the state and her work with the Suffolk University Battered Women’s Advocacy Project, in addition to leading the Town of Hempstead for the last 13 years, qualify her for the district attorney’s job.
A Newsday/News 12/Siena College poll released Sunday showed Murray had a six-point advantage over Singas in, leading the race 48 percent to 42 percent.
The poll, conducted from Sept. 23-29, also showed Singas has a disadvantage when it comes to name recognition — 53 percent of respondents said they had not heard of her, while 21 percent said they had not heard of Murray.
In a statement, Singas said Rice’s endorsement is “extremely important” to winning the race.
“I’m thrilled to be able to share her (Rice’s) support with the voters,” she said.
Murray said she is “looking forward to a solid victory” in the election, emphasizing her focus on combatting the county’s heroin problem.
“I am gratified for the support that Nassau’s voters have shown me, as well as the overwhelming backing I’ve received from Nassau’s law enforcement community,” she said.
