By Jessica Dye
NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Brooklyn district attorney
Charles Hynes got off to a slow fundraising start in his 2013
re-election bid, but two challengers including Kenneth Thompson
reported six-figure hauls in 2012.
Hynes, a 77-year-old, six-term incumbent, raised $27,275
during the last six months of the year, giving him $373,165 in
his war chest, according to a periodic campaign finance report
filed Tuesday with the state Board of Elections.
The two challengers facing Hynes in the Democratic primary
are Thompson, 46, and Abe George, 34, a former assistant
district attorney in Manhattan.
Thompson has raised more than $341,000 since his campaign
kick-off event in December and has $264,252 on hand, according
to campaign filings. A former federal prosecutor, Thompson made
headlines when he filed a civil suit on behalf of hotel maid
Nafissatou Diallo, who accused former International Monetary
Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault. The case
settled for an undisclosed sum.
George, who filed his campaign disclosure form on Tuesday,
raised $210,000. He said the fundraising filings signal that
Brooklyn is ready for a new DA.
"Hynes's meager $27,000 disclosure shows that not only has he
lost interest in being Brooklyn DA, but more importantly, that
the people of Brooklyn have lost interest in him," George said
in an emailed statement. "People have made up their mind that
they want change."
Thompson's campaign has some high-profile supporters,
including Chris Rock Enterprises, a company founded by comedian
Chris Rock, which contributed $5,000; the wife of actor Denzel
Washington, Pauletta, who contributed $500; and lawyer Ted Wells
of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, who contributed
$5,000, according to campaign filings.
Thompson's law partner, Douglas Wigdor, donated $30,000,
according to the filing, and Thompson himself contributed
$25,000. Their firm, Thompson Wigdor, kicked in an additional
$5,000, the filings showed.
Thompson said in a statement that he hoped to capitalize on
the early support to get his ideas across to voters before the
election this fall. It is "humbling to have the tremendous
support of so many people so fast," he said.
One of George's biggest supporters is David Boies of Boies
Schiller & Flexner, who has contributed $45,000 and agreed to
co-chair George's campaign committee, George said in an email.
Meanwhile, Hynes's filing showed a much smaller pool of
contributors. One Manhattan law firm, Baratta Baratta Aidala,
contributed $1,000. Hynes's largest contribution from the last
six months was $10,000 from Crown Acquisitions, a New York real
estate firm.
A spokesman for Hynes's campaign, George Arzt, said that
Hynes has not done any fundraising since June and has been
focusing on "doing the work of the DA, not raising money."
"We're about getting the job done, not glitz," Arzt said.
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