Since his first election 20 years ago, Albany County District Attorney David Soares has been outspoken about criminal justice matters. Defeated in this year’s election, Soares appears ready to leave office in silence.

On Election Day, David Soares went out with a whimper.

The unorthodox but strangely quiet write-in campaign mounted by the longtime Albany County district attorney garnered about 4,400 votes, miles from the number needed to trouble the runaway winner, Democrat Lee Kindlon, and well below the 48,000 votes received by Republican Ralph Ambrosio.

All told, Soares received about three percent of the vote. Impressive? No.

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Twenty years ago, it was all so different. Soares was the surprise renegade who smashed the establishment as represented by his former boss, District Attorney Paul Clyne. It was smiles and hugs of joy then. Soares was just 35 years old, only five years removed from Albany Law School, the fresh new face of county politics, a critic of Rockefeller-era drug laws.

Much has happened in the decades since, but not to worry, I’ll resist turning this into an elegy or an examination of Soares' legacy. He is, at 55, still relatively young with years of career yet to come if he chooses.

But Soares' looming departure is certainly........

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