Letitia James May Replace Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson After Sudden Death: Sources

By Kings County Politics News Service

UPDATE, Monday, Oct. 17: Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced that interim Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez, Thompson's former chief assistant, will continue to serve as DA until next year's election.

Original story, posted Oct. 12, below.

BROOKLYN, NY — Several elected officials are quietly lobbying New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Kings County Democratic Party leadership to appoint NYC Public Advocate and Brooklyn native Letitia James, currently serving as the city's highest-ranking watchdog, as the interim Brooklyn District Attorney, Kings County Politics has learned.

Sources say that while the county continues to mourn the death of the standing Brooklyn DA, Kenneth Thompson, there is a mounting groundswell of Brooklyn political support for James.

Thompson announced on Oct. 4 that he had cancer and was taking sick leave to fight the disease. In stepping down, he named his chief assistant Eric Gonzalez as an interim to head the DA’s office. Gonzalez is well-respected in the legal community and also remains in talks to replace Thompson, who was up for re-election next year.

It is up to Gov. Cuomo to either stick with Gonzalez or name a replacement. Sources say they expect him to huddle with Kings County Party Chair Frank Seddio and other Brooklyn leaders to come up with a consensus pick.

Several elected officials in central Brooklyn are lobbying for James, who came out of the politically powerful Vanguard Independent Democratic Association (VIDA) political club, sources say.

Whoever Cuomo names will probably also run in the Democratic primary election for District Attorney next September.

James, a former Fort Greene city councilwoman and lifelong Brooklynite, is something of a legal eagle and is thought to have an excellent background for the role of the borough’s chief prosecutor. She went to New York City public schools and received her B.A. from the City University of New York’s Lehman College in 1981.

James graduated from the Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to practice law in New York state in 1989. She also served as a public defender for the Legal Aid Society.

If James was named as Brooklyn DA, it would likely take her out of the running for mayor next year and/or in 2021.

Political pundits often see the NYC mayor's seat as somewhat of a dead-end to holding higher political office; becoming district attorney for the state’s largest county, on the other hand, could put James on a fast-moving political trajectory toward statewide office.

But the lobbying on James’ behalf in Brooklyn is already getting some pushback in state political circles.

“While we mourn the sudden passing of a thoughtful prosecutor, politics takes no days off,” says one Brooklyn political consultant active in both NYC and Albany. “Tish [James] has long been positioned to run for New York State Attorney General, in the event the opportunity arises for Eric Schneiderman to run for Governor. Her office has strategically been active in legal matters to burnish her lawyering credentials. The governor should think very carefully about who he is empowering here, as her supporters are certainly not his friends.”

James responded: “This is a time to mourn and to celebrate the great life of Ken Thompson. Any political discussions must take a backseat as we continue this mourning process. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office is in the capable hands of Chief Assistant District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and the executive team.”

Lead photo via Letitia James/Facebook. A version of this article originally appeared on the Kings County Politics news site