Democrats held onto the office of state attorney general in a race closely watched by Wall Street, with voters electing State Sen. Eric Schneiderman, according to election results.
Schneiderman, a 12-year veteran of Albany, defeated Republican Dan Donovan, the Richmond County district attorney. He will replace Andrew Cuomo, who was elected the state’s governor, according to preliminary results.
Wall Street featured prominently in the hard fought and at times nasty battle to become the New York’s next top attorney.
Schneiderman, of the Upper West Side, embraced the moniker of “sheriff” of Wall Street, campaigning on a pledge to keep the heat on the financial industry like his predecessors, Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer.
Donovan rejected the sheriff mold, saying that while he would aggressively prosecute corruption he didn’t intend to attack an entire industry and look for corruption where there is none. He accused Cuomo and Spitzer of pursuing investigations to generate headlines.
Donovan and those campaigning on his behalf painted Schneiderman as an Albany insider with a far-left social agenda – a record that includes support for same-sex marriage and abortion rights. A career prosecutor elected as Staten Island’s district attorney in 2003, Donovan vowed to root out corruption in Albany.
Schneiderman also campaigned on restoring trust in state government by fighting corruption and waste, portraying himself as a reformer who led state Senate investigation that resulted in the expulsion of another lawmaker.
Both candidates had significant institutional support. Schneiderman had broad labor backing as well as an endorsement from former President Bill Clinton. Donovan had Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is not affiliated with any party, and former mayor Ed Koch stumping for him.
On Tuesday, the two campaigned with elected officials past and present as they made last ditch efforts to get out the vote in a race that was in a dead heat, according to a Siena College poll released over the weekend. The poll showed both candidates tied with 44% of the vote.
Schneiderman greeted voters at a subway station on the Upper West Side with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, among others. Hours later he joined City Council Speaker Christine Quinn at a Gristedes store in Chelsea. Donovan appeared with Bloomberg and Koch at Grand Central Terminal in the morning.
“We need somebody that is totally independent and not somebody that’s been part of the problem (in) Albany that everybody complains about,” Bloomberg said. “You’ll never get anybody in Albany to clean it up if they’re part of the problem.”
Schneiderman’s victory followed a hard fought primary in September, in which he narrowly defeated Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and three other candidates in the Democratic primary.
Still, he raised almost $8 million, nearly four times the amount of Donovan. As of the end of last week, financial businesses overall donated more money to Schneiderman with approximately $90,900 coming from financial or insurance firms, according to a study conducted by the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Donovan collected about $72,575, though he relied more on Wall Street to finance his campaign, with about 3.4% of his funds coming from financial firms. The financial sector provided just 1.2% of Schneiderman’s overall campaign chest. Bloomberg donated the maximum amount he could to Donovan, or $37,800.
{Wall Street Journal/Matzav.com Election Center}
