Getting ready to face Murray for DA

Singas, Scotto in Sept. 10 primary

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Before they face off against Republican Kate Murray for the Nassau County District Attorney seat, Democrats Madeline Singas and Michael Scotto have to face each other in a primary on Sept. 10.

Singas, the incumbent, was appointed to the position by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January after former DA Kathleen Rice was elected to the House of Representatives last year. Before that, she served as Rice’s top deputy. She has been a prosecutor for her entire career, working at the Queens DA office and then Nassau. In 2006, she helped create the county’s Special Victims Bureau, and was Rice’s chief assistant district attorney since 2011.

Scotto, her challenger, is also a career prosecutor. He is currently a sole practitioner of law with a focus on white-collar defense. But for more than 20 years, he was an assistant district attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office. In the office, he worked for years in the Labor Racketeering Unit, and was appointed chief of the unit in 2001. In 2010, he was made chief of the Rackets Bureau and deputy chief of the Investigation Division.

In the race, Scotto has been critical of Singas’s experience, saying that she is unqualified to continue as district attorney.

“Ms. Singas, in my view, is unprepared and unqualified to be District Attorney,” Scotto said. “I’ve handled every type of case a prosecutor can bring, including street crime, domestic violence, white collar crime, political corruption, organized crime, tax evasion and even terrorism charges. I’ve lead teams of prosecutors and investigators. Ms. Singas has not.”

But Singas has touted her time as the acting district attorney, as well as her years of pervious experience, as her qualifications.

“I am the only candidate in this race who has actually fought crime in Nassau County and locked up the violent criminals that threaten our families,” she said. “I am the only candidate who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with former DA Kathleen Rice to build Nassau’s reputation for tough and aggressive prosecuting. And I am the only candidate with executive experience in a DA’s office, from working as Kathleen Rice’s Chief Assistant to now serving as Nassau’s top law enforcement official as acting DA.”

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