If you are a member of the media with questions,
please call Abigail Gardner at 917-653-4929.

Sign up to receive press releases from the O'Donnell Campaign
Download a photo of Denise O'Donnell
Download a bio for Denise O'Donnell

Prosecutor Inches Closer to Spot on Ballot

By Elizabeth Benjamin
April 21, 2006

The executive committee of the Rensselaer County Democratic Party has endorsed former U.S. Attorney Denise O'Donnell, one of six Democrats vying to replace state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

The move Wednesday adds another 1.02 percent of the weighted state committee vote to O'Donnell's column -- not a lot when you consider she needs 25 percent to land a spot on the ballot, but every little bit helps. She already had a bit more than 6 percent.

In a news release announcing the endorsement, Tom Wade, the Rensselaer County Democratic co-chair, cited O'Donnell's experience as a federal prosecutor, calling her "the only candidate who has put crooked officials behind bars."

That point is straight out of O'Donnell's campaign playbook. She likes to point out she's the only "career prosecutor" in the Democratic attorney general primary. She's also the only woman and the only upstater.

The Republicans have former Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the only GOP attorney general candidate, who was a prosecutor, as well as a judge.

The apparent front-runner in the Democratic attorney general pack, former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, is striving mightily to lock up more than 50 percent of the weighted vote, which would dramatically narrow the field.

O'Donnell, a Buffalo native, has said she'll go the petition route if she doesn't end up with 25 percent. She also has a shot at landing the Albany County Democratic Committee's backing -- worth 2.99 percent -- next Thursday. Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings is a longtime Cuomo ally, but much of the suburban support is behind O'Donnell.