More stories

  • in

    Alvin Bragg, the Democratic Incumbent, Wins D.A. Primary in Manhattan

    Mr. Bragg, who defeated Patrick Timmins, will face a Republican and an independent in the general election.Alvin L. Bragg, Manhattan’s incumbent district attorney, won the race for the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported.He moves on to a general election that his two challengers have cast as a referendum on his record.Mr. Bragg, 51, has held the job since 2022, when he became the first Black person to hold the office and the fourth district attorney in 80 years. He also became the first prosecutor to win the conviction of a president when Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies last year.In this year’s primary, he faced a sole Democrat, Patrick Timmins, a civil litigator who served in the Bronx district attorney’s office in the late 1990s. Mr. Timmins said he campaigned in order to give Manhattanites who feared crime a chance for change.In the general election, Mr. Bragg will face the Republican Maud Maron, a conservative activist and self-described former liberal who once was a Legal Aid Society lawyer. An independent, Diana Florence, a veteran of the district attorney’s office who opposed Mr. Bragg in 2021, is also running.Dozens of Mr. Bragg’s supporters gathered in the sweltering heat Tuesday night at the Harlem Tavern, where he gave his speech in 2021 after winning the office. The race was called in favor within 20 minutes of polls closing, with Mr. Bragg winning close to 74 percent of the vote with three-quarters of the vote counted. He said the numbers were a sign that Manhattanites had “spoken quite loudly.”“That’s a loud voice in favor of us continuing to make Manhattan safer and our system fairer at the same time,” he told his supporters.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Manhattan Democrats Will Weigh Tenure of District Attorney in Primary

    Patrick Timmins, who is challenging Alvin L. Bragg, says the groundbreaking felony conviction of President Trump is irrelevant. He promises to tackle crime in the subway.While New Yorkers have been inundated with news about the Democratic primary for mayor, voters in Manhattan on Tuesday will also decide whether to re-elect their top prosecutor.Alvin L. Bragg, the Democrat who has been Manhattan’s district attorney since 2022, is facing a sole primary challenger in the race to lead one of the country’s largest prosecutors’ offices.His challenger, Patrick Timmins, a civil litigator who served in the Bronx district attorney’s office in the late 1990s, has said Mr. Bragg ushered in an increase in crime in Manhattan, especially in the subway.Mr. Timmins, 69, said that he has heard a desire for new leadership during his conversations with Manhattanites in recent months.“They fear crime, they fear where Manhattan is going, and so they want a change,” Mr. Timmins said. “They want a change from Alvin Bragg.”Mr. Bragg’s campaign rejected the assertion that crime has risen. In Manhattan, the seven felony crimes that the New York Police Department uses as benchmarks — murders, rapes, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, grand larcenies and grand larcenies of automobiles — are overall 13 percent lower this year compared with the same period in 2022, when Mr. Bragg took office, according to police data.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    El gobernador de California aplaza su decisión sobre los hermanos Menendez

    Gavin Newson dijo que esperará a que el nuevo fiscal de distrito del condado de Los Ángeles haga su propia revisión sobre el caso antes de considerar la petición de una nueva sentencia.El gobernador de California, Gavin Newsom, dijo el lunes que no tomaría una decisión sobre la concesión de clemencia a Lyle y Erik Menendez, quienes mataron a sus padres en su casa de Beverly Hills en 1989, sino hasta después de que el fiscal de distrito entrante en el condado de Los Ángeles lleve a cabo su propia revisión del caso.El actual fiscal del distrito, George Gascón, pidió al juez en octubre que volviera a sentenciar a los hermanos, que fueron declarados culpables de asesinato en primer grado y condenados a cadena perpetua sin libertad condicional. Por ese entones, los hermanos solicitaron clemencia al gobernador, y Gascón escribió una carta en apoyo de la petición.Pero Gascón perdió su candidatura a la reelección este mes frente a Nathan Hochman, un ex fiscal federal que prometió ser más duro con la delincuencia, y el cambio en el liderazgo ha arrojado algunas dudas sobre si la petición seguirá adelante.“El gobernador respeta el papel del fiscal de distrito para garantizar que se haga justicia y reconoce que los votantes han confiado en el fiscal electo Hochman para llevar a cabo esta responsabilidad”, dijo el despacho de Newsom en un comunicado el lunes. “El gobernador se remitirá a la revisión y análisis del fiscal de distrito electo del caso Menendez antes de tomar cualquier decisión de clemencia”.Hochman ha dicho públicamente que llevará a cabo su propia revisión del caso después de asumir el cargo el 3 de diciembre, y que podría pedir al juez del Tribunal Superior de Los Ángeles que supervisa la petición que retrase una audiencia prevista para el 11 de diciembre.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Menendez Brothers Clemency Decision Is on Hold, Newsom Says

    Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said he would hold off deciding whether to grant clemency to Lyle and Erik Menendez until after the incoming Los Angeles County district attorney reviewed the case.Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said on Monday that he would not make a decision on granting clemency to Lyle and Erik Menendez, who killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989, until after the incoming district attorney in Los Angeles County conducted his own review of the case.The current district attorney, George Gascón, asked a judge in October to resentence the brothers, who were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Around the same time, the brothers petitioned the governor for clemency, and Mr. Gascón wrote a letter in support of the request.But Mr. Gascón lost his re-election bid this month to Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who vowed to be tougher on crime, and the change in leadership has cast some doubt on whether the resentencing bid will move forward.“The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility,” Mr. Newsom’s office said in a statement on Monday. “The governor will defer to the D.A.-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”Mr. Hochman has said publicly that he will conduct his own review of the case after he is sworn into office on Dec. 3, and that he may ask the Los Angeles Superior Court judge overseeing the resentencing petition to delay a hearing scheduled for Dec. 11.“Once I take office on Dec. 3, I look forward to putting in the hard work to thoroughly review the facts and law of the Menendez case, including reviewing the confidential prison files, the transcripts of the two trials and the voluminous exhibits, as well as speaking with the prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim family members,” Mr. Hochman said in a statement on Monday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    California Shifts Rightward on Crime in an Election Fueled by Frustration

    Voters in the Democratic-run state overwhelmingly approved a measure to impose harsher sentences for crimes and were on their way to ousting two progressive district attorneys.California has shown no signs of going Republican anytime soon, but in Tuesday’s elections the reliably liberal state lurched to the right in ways that might surprise other Americans.Fed up with open-air drug use, “smash-and-grab” robberies and shampoo locked away in stores, California voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure, Proposition 36, that will impose harsher penalties for shoplifting and drug possession. Voters in Oakland and Los Angeles were on their way to ousting liberal district attorneys who had campaigned on social justice promises to reduce imprisonment and hold the police accountable. And statewide measures to raise the minimum wage, ban the forced labor of inmates and expand rent control, all backed by progressive groups and labor unions, were heading toward defeat.Amid a conservative shift nationally that included Donald J. Trump’s reclamation of the White House, voters in heavily Democratic California displayed a similar frustration, challenging the state’s identity as a reflexively liberal bastion.And Mr. Trump appears to have gained ground in California compared with four years ago, based on initial election returns, despite facing Vice President Kamala Harris in her home state. (She was still ahead by nearly 18 percentage points after a vote count update on Thursday, but Joseph R. Biden Jr. won in 2020 by 29 points.)The mood this year was “very negative about the direction of the country especially, but also the state,” said Mark Baldassare, who is a political scientist and the statewide survey director for the Public Policy Institute of California. “Lots of concerns about the direction of the economy, and worries about the cost of living and public safety.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Voters Oust Progressive Prosecutor in Portland

    Mike Schmidt, the progressive prosecutor in Portland, Ore., who has held office during a tumultuous period of street protests, drug overdoses and violent crime, lost his seat to a co-worker who has called for more aggressive prosecution of criminals, The Associated Press said on Wednesday.The co-worker, Nathan Vasquez, a deputy district attorney in the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, had mounted a campaign that blamed Mr. Schmidt for the city’s recent problems. Mr. Schmidt, a Democrat, was one of a series of progressive prosecutors around the country who had vowed to reshape the criminal justice system.But in the years since Mr. Schmidt’s election in 2020, voters in Portland have signaled an interest in cracking down on crime and homelessness. As businesses fled the city center, people reported feeling unsafe on the streets. Homicides and overdoses soared.Mike Schmidt in 2020.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian, via Associated PressMr. Vasquez called for a new approach, setting up a bitter campaign against his boss. He promised to take on lawless behavior and petty crimes, differentiating himself from Mr. Schmidt, who had won four years ago with pledges to move away from focusing on low-level crimes.Mr. Schmidt tried to highlight the progress seen in the last year, when car thefts dropped rapidly and homicides were coming down from record highs. He backed an effort to partially roll back Oregon’s drug decriminalization law.Mr. Vasquez, an independent who previously was a registered Republican, is the latest public official in a West Coast city to be elected with a promise to be tougher on crime. In 2021, voters in Seattle elected a Republican as the city prosecutor after she vowed more action on low-level crimes. The next year, voters in San Francisco recalled the progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin.The district attorney position in Portland is nonpartisan, and with only two candidates on the primary ballot Mr. Vasquez’s victory means he is set to take over the office next year. More

  • in

    Multnomah County, Ore. District Attorney Election Results 2024

    Source: Election results are from The Associated Press.Produced by Michael Andre, Camille Baker, Neil Berg, Michael Beswetherick, Matthew Bloch, Irineo Cabreros, Nate Cohn, Alastair Coote, Annie Daniel, Saurabh Datar, Leo Dominguez, Andrew Fischer, Martín González Gómez, K.K. Rebecca Lai, Jasmine C. Lee, Alex Lemonides, Ilana Marcus, Alicia Parlapiano, Elena Shao, Charlie Smart, Urvashi Uberoy, Isaac White and Christine Zhang. Additional reporting by Richard Fausset; production by Amanda Cordero and Jessica White.
    Editing by Wilson Andrews, Lindsey Rogers Cook, William P. Davis, Amy Hughes, Ben Koski and Allison McCartney. Source: Election results are from The Associated Press. More

  • in

    Eileen O’Neill Burke Wins Democratic Primary for Cook County State’s Attorney

    The contest was close, and workers counted ballots for days after the March 19 election before the result of the race for the Democratic nomination was announced. Eileen O’Neill Burke, a Democrat and retired appellate judge, defeated a more liberal candidate in last week’s primary election for the job of top prosecutor in Cook County, Ill., according to The Associated Press.The result came after more than a week of counting ballots, including mail-in votes, that were not able to be reported on Election Day.Justice O’Neill Burke is expected to succeed Kim Foxx, the state’s attorney for the county, who arrived in office in 2016 promising to change the criminal justice system with a progressive platform. She chose not to seek re-election this year after two terms.A victory for Justice O’Neill Burke was widely seen as a shift away from Ms. Foxx’s approach. Her opponent, Clayton Harris III, had Ms. Foxx’s backing.In the general election in November, Justice O’Neill Burke will face a Republican opponent, Bob Fioretti, a former alderman. But Cook County, which includes Chicago, is heavily Democratic, and the winner of the Democratic primary is widely favored to win the general election.Crime is a potent political issue for voters in Chicago and other cities, where shootings and homicides spiked during the pandemic but have seen declines in the past two years. Progressive prosecutors, including Ms. Foxx, have been pilloried for policies that moderate and conservative voters have seen as too lenient on criminal offenders.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More