Albany County Democrats have declined to support District Attorney David Soares' re-election bid, opening the door for challengers.
A salary bonus DA David Soares gave himself from a state grant has led to growing pressure on the fifth-term Democrat.
Although Soares declared he'll give the money back, that gesture failed to land an endorsement at Tuesday night's Albany County Democratic Committee meeting. Instead, long-time Capital Region attorney Lee Kindlon has attracted the attention of high-ranking officials. Kindlon and Soares faced off in the 2012 primary.
"So I can, I can say, with my hand raised, that I never had any intention to do this 10 days ago," Kindlon said. "And then, and even when the news story started to break a week ago, it's just one of those things. And then Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, I'm starting to get calls from leadership and the Democratic Party, saying, 'Hey Lee, we really want you to consider running, we think this is the time, would you have any interest?' And then I started hearing from rank and file members of the Democratic Party. And so you know, I haven't formally announced I'm running yet. But I certainly was receptive to the invitation of the executive committee to come in and interview for possible endorsements."
Soares has survived past election cycles after winning an upset in 2004. In 2006 he apologized to law enforcement after speaking in Vancouver where he said that drug offenders should be given more treatment, not more jail time. In 2011, Soares defied the Cuomo administration by declining to prosecute Occupy Albany protestors. If it's time for a fresh face in the DA's office, Kindlon is definitely in the queue.
"I think the past decade or so, especially since he kicked my butt in 2012, and he kicked Matt Toporowski to the curb four years ago, time has told that Dave is a pretty good politician. And, you know, I'd be critical of myself, I might not be the greatest politician. I'm a pretty good lawyer, though. So I'll let the politics kind of play themselves out over the next couple of days and weeks, as I present my case to the executive committee, and, you know, ultimately, let them decide," Kindlon said.
More recently, DA Soares has clashed with fellow Democrats by loudly criticizing bail reform and discovery changes. Kindlon says he believes in progressive politics.
"I'm a criminal defense attorney by trade. So I'm a big fan of bail and discovery reform. I don't think that they are the cause of the stubbornly high crime rate in Albany County. I think that it's actually been a real benefit for the criminal justice system. Since the reforms have been put in place," said Kindlon.
Toporowski has indicated via social media that he is not interested in another run for DA. Assemblymember Phil Steck of the 110 district is also on the party’s short list of viable candidates.
"It became very apparent that the party is not going to re nominate David Soares, and determine, as requested and interested people submit their qualifications to the executive committee of the party. And I have done that," Steck said.
Kindlon sees no difficulty in transitioning from a defense attorney to a prosecutorial role.
"Once you get past the, you know, 'whose side of the courtroom are you standing on?' argument, it's who is the best practitioner who knows all the issues inside and out? Who's worked with the new discovery and bail reform laws. And, you know, I go from the opportunity, which I have right now, every day, to defending individuals in the criminal justice system, to just representing a different client, that is, the people of Albany County and the people of the state of New York. And whoever my client is, they know that I'm going to take that job as seriously as I can to have their interests heard in a courtroom," said Kindlon.
When it comes down to issues, Kindlon says the epidemic of gun violence has his attention.
"Every time you open the paper, and you see a victim of gun violence, it's like, especially doing this job, like 'oh, my gosh, I knew that person or I knew his mother, or, you know, I've worked with his brother at some point.' And it's tough. And I can only imagine what the members of the community who are losing their brothers and their fathers and their sisters to violence, and I want to make sure that those schools and those streets are safe in every part of the county, and that's probably going to be my number one concern," Kindlon said.
"I think one of the key things about being district attorney is to have credibility," Steck said. "And I think David Soares has lost a lot of credibility because of his denials of something that was indefensible. Also, the Times Union called to my attention that he has not filed his financial disclosure forms that are required under campaign finance law since 2021. So, again, this goes to the credibility of his office. And I think I think the party is correct in seeing that. He's not in a position to run for reelection."
Soares has announced he is running for re-election.
Democrats are asking others interested in becoming candidates to reach out to the party.
