Port Washington Native Says He's Running for Nassau DA

Port Washington native Michael Scotto says he’s running for Nassau County District Attorney.

A product of Port Washington schools, Scotto spent 22 years as a Manhattan DA prosecutor under Robert Morgenthau and served as chief of the Labor Racketeering Unit.

Scotto, 50, is seeking the spot recently vacated by Kathleen Rice, who stepped down to begin her new role in congress.

Scotto says he plans to bring a new approach to the Nassau DA’s office, being “more aggressive on violent crime” and “rooting out political corruption.”

“I’m a registered Democrat,” he said. “I hope to get support across the board. There’s no partisan way to fight crime.”

According to his bio, Scotto supervised the first two New York State Anti-Terrorism statute prosecutions against individuals inspired by Al Qaeda.

Among Scotto’s proposals is to assign one ADA per case in order to streamline those cases involving victims of serious crimes. Also, he’s proposing more discretion for ADAs when processing low-level cases in order to bring more efficiencies into the office.

Scotto, who is married and whose three children attend Port Washington public schools, currently runs a private practice in Garden City.

Although he says he’s not yet aggressively raised money for his campaign, there are upcoming plans for coffees, and town-hall events to share thoughts and concerns.

Last week, Manhasset resident Madeline Singas was sworn-in as Nassau County’s acting district attorney.

She, too, plans to run for the DA seat in November, according to Newsday.

No word yet on who Nassau Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs or GOP chairman Joseph Mondello say they will endorse in their parties.