Albany County District Attorney David Soares was just 34 when he shocked the political establishment by defeating incumbent Paul Clyne. Two decades later, his incumbency is facing an unexpected challenge.
ALBANY — Eleven years ago, Lee Kindlon described David Soares as politically bulletproof.
"David can probably be the DA for as long as he chooses," Kindlon told me then, shortly after he'd lost to Soares in the Democratic primary. "Given the sustained level of popularity he's shown, I think he can write his own ticket."
That statement was true then. It felt true two weeks ago. Albany County's longtime district attorney seemed destined for another easy reelection.
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But everything changed when we learned that Soares paid himself $23,000 in bonuses from grant money. Kindlon is among two challengers — Colonie Assemblyman Phil Steck is the other — now seeking the Democratic Party's endorsement in the race, and one or the other may get it.
"I had no intention of doing this a week ago or 10 days ago," Kindlon said Wednesday. "But I think the bonus thing has lit a fire in the party."
The bonuses are indefensible, an egregious error of judgment that may have broken the law. But I initially doubted the money would be enough to derail Soares, given his longevity and broad base of support. Then I saw the video Soares released Monday evening, the one in which he announced he would return the money.
Soares could have delivered the news in a written statement and probably should have. Instead, he gathered his wife and two young children in what appears to be his living room for a taped recording that had the look and feel of an apology video. The apology never came, but the remarkable video made clear that Soares is taking the threat posed by the scandal very seriously.
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And for good reason. If Kindlon or Steck gets the party nod, Soares would face a scramble to gather the signatures needed to get on the ballot. Without party backing, does he have the people and resources needed for the effort? Is he prepared for this fight?
Perhaps not, given that he had no reason to worry until just a few days ago. His reelection was assured.
Indeed, the bonus scandal is a sign of overconfidence, complacency or both. A politician facing a reelection contest wouldn't have made the decision, given the terrible optics. A politician who feared a threat wouldn't have handed his opposition the ammunition.
But Soares, already the highest-paid elected official in Albany County, did just that. He paid himself $22,308 from a state Aid to Prosecution grant and also used a separate grant program to give himself a $1,562 boost. What was he thinking?
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Soares insists he did nothing wrong. In the non-apology video, Soares also called the controversy a distraction from Albany's record number of homicides and a retail theft wave that, he said, is shuttering small businesses.
In a way, it was odd for an incumbent to highlight the county's unfixed crime problems. In other parts of the country, district attorneys have been tossed by voters frustrated by rising crime.
But with his loud criticisms of bail and Raise the Age reforms, Soares has seemingly protected himself from that line of criticism. He's been the one casting progressives as soft on crime, which helps to explain why many Democrats would be happy to see him go. (Soares' office did not respond to an interview request.)
"You can talk about the problems or you can try to fix the problems," Kindlon said of Soares' record. "I don't see a lot of fixes right now. I see a lot of talking."
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Steck, in a brief interview, noted the need for new approaches and highlighted his work as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. Steck has called on Soares to resign, calling the bonus "graft, plain and simple" and saying it erases the credibility a DA must have.
To my eyes, though, neither Steck nor Kindlon would be a safe bet against Soares in a primary, even with the party endorsement.
Kindlon, for one, lost to Soares by 17 percentage points in the 2012 race and in recent years is best known for representing Nauman Hussain, recently convicted of manslaughter in the Schoharie limousine crash. While most voters are sophisticated enough to understand that Kindlon was doing his job and that unsympathetic defendants deserve a vigorous defense, it would be an unusual path to electoral success.
Soares, meanwhile, is tried-and-true as the outsider. He first bucked the establishment 20 years ago by defeating incumbent District Attorney Paul Clyne and may be set to buck it again. "I have certainly managed to rankle the feathers of the political flock," he said while announcing his run for reelection, "and they've attempted to silence the inconvenient truths that I speak."
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Suddenly, the district attorney has a real battle on his hands. If Soares is still politically bulletproof, he'll need to prove it.
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