In the recently reconfigured race for Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has a head start in fundraising and organization, but all three candidates have assembled teams of accomplished professionals.

The race took a dramatic turn last month when incumbent District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, 89, announced he would not seek a tenth term.

Mr. Vance, a partner at Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, and Richard M. Aborn, a partner at Constantine Cannon, both of whom held off declaring as long as Mr. Morgenthau appeared to be running, immediately said they would enter the race (NYLJ, March 2).

Leslie Crocker Snyder, a partner at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman and a former judge, had declared last October that she would run in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary. She had challenged Mr. Morgenthau in 2005, taking 40 percent of the vote in a race where both candidates had raised $2.2 million.

All three candidates who have so far declared for the 2009 race have put in place a deep bench of professionals.

Ms. Snyder has retained Hudson TGP as her political consulting firm. Each of the three principals of the firm play a different role.

Michael Tobman, who was in charge of intergovernmental relations for U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, is Ms. Snyder’s senior consultant. Benjamin Geyerhahn, who formerly headed the Blue Tiger Group, which worked in both New York and Michigan to build the Democratic Party, is her campaign manager. And Rachel Padgett, who worked for the state Senate Democratic Campaign Committee in 2007-08, is raising funds.

In addition, Dara Freed, who raised funds for Hillary Clinton when she ran for Senate in 2006, was separately hired to deal with fundraising.

Doug Schoen, who has handled polling for former President Bill Clinton and Ms. Clinton on her Senate races, will be working for Ms. Snyder this year as he did in 2005.

Hudson TGP handled the campaign of Queens Assemblywoman Grace Meng in last year’s Democratic primary when she ousted an incumbent.

Mr. Tobman was also a political adviser to Arnold Kriss, a former deputy police commissioner who unsuccessfully challenged Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes for the Democratic nomination in 2005.

Firm Advised Silver

Mr. Aborn has turned to BerlinRosen as his political consulting firm. His campaign said it intends to hire a separate campaign manager.

Valerie Berlin, one of the firm’s two principals, was chief of staff for State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman. The firm also advised Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in his race for re-election last year.

Jacqui Samuels, who had worked for the state Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, is Mr. Aborn’s campaign finance director. Ms. Samuels was in charge of fundraising for U.S. Representative Eric Massa, who raised $2.2 million in winning election against an incumbent in western New York. Ms. Samuels is not with BerlinRosen.

Mr. Aborn’s finance committee is led by two volunteers, a husband-and-wife team who are both lawyers. Howard P. Milstein, is president of Emigrant Savings Bank and managing partner of Milstein Properties. Abby S. Milstein is a partner at Mr. Aborn’s firm, Constantine Cannon.

Mr. and Ms. Milstein have donated $30,000 each to Mr. Aborn’s campaign. The maximum that can be contributed to the primary race is set by statutory formula, based on the number of enrolled Democrats in Manhattan. Though the amount this year has yet to be determined, it is approximately $33,450, according to the Board of Elections.

Mr. Vance is relying on Bill Lynch Associates for political and public relations advice. Bill Lynch was former Mayor David N. Dinkins’ campaign manager and then served as deputy mayor for intergovernmental affairs in Mr. Dinkins’ administration.

Mr. Vance also has turned to Cindy Darrison to aid fundraising, and to the Global Strategy Group for political advice. Both Ms. Darrison and Global Strategy worked for former Governor Eliot Spitzer on his attorney general and gubernatorial campaigns.

Barbara Thompson, who was Mr. Morgenthau’s communications director for many years before her retirement last year, is handling press relations for Mr. Vance.

Praise From Experts

Other experts and political consultants praised the quality of the consultants hired by the three camps.

Maurice Carroll, the head of Quinnipiac University Policy Institute, described Mr. Lynch’s firm as “good, solid political advisors who have very solid credentials in the black community.” There is “sure to be an ethnic element in the campaign,” Mr. Carroll added.

Jerry Skurnik, the head of the consulting firm Prime New York, called Mr. Lynch “the rumpled genius.”

Hank Sheinkopf, a political consultant, said the BerlinRosen firm is “a very competent organization” known for its field organization prowess.

In the Manhattan race the key is targeting different communities, Mr. Scheinkopf added, and Mr. Schoen, Ms. Snyder’s pollster, is very skilled at that.

Garnering Legal Support

Of the three campaigns, only the Vance team reported having developed a concerted effort aimed at the legal community.

Mr. Vance has formed a lawyers’ committee and 85 lawyers attended an organizational meeting last week at Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom, said Douglas Dunham, who has been active in raising funds for many Democratic candidates, including President Barack Obama and former President Clinton.

Former New York Court of Appeals Judge George Bundy Smith and former Eastern District U.S. Attorney Zachery W. Carter attended the press conference last week at which Mr. Vance announced his candidacy (NYLJ, March 10).

Many other leaders of the legal community have endorsed Mr. Vance, said Mr. Dunham, who is of counsel at Skadden. Among them are former Appellate Division, First Department, Justices Betty Weinberg Ellerin and E. Leo Milonas; former Corporation Counsels Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., Victor A. Kovner and Peter Zimroth; former Southern District U.S. Attorneys Whitney North Seymour, Robert B. Fiske and Otto Obermaier; former Massachusetts Governor William Weld and five former presidents of the New York City Bar Association.

Jessica DeGracia, who was the first line assistant hired by Mr. Morgenthau after his election in 1974, is organizing support from prosecutors and others who have worked at the Manhattan office. Ms. DeGracia, who became Mr. Morgenthau’s chief deputy, hired Mr. Vance in 1982.

Ms. DeGracia said that, with the exception of judges who can not engage in political activity, “99.9 percent of former members of the office’s executive staff” are supporting Mr. Vance and she expects “huge numbers” of former staffers, both lawyers and non-lawyers, to support him.

Mr. Aborn in an interview acknowledged that his organizational efforts are still in the early stages, but said he has “a lot of support from the progressive and advocacy communities as well as the business community and legal profession.”

He added that he has developed a financial plan with a “very broad reach that certainly includes” both the legal community and former Morgenthau staffers.

Among Mr. Aborn’s top donors are John E. Zuccotti, a former first deputy mayor, and Lloyd Constantine, who served as a senior advisor to Mr. Spitzer. Another top donor is Harvey M. Krueger, a vice chairman of Barclays. Mr. Krueger is the father of state Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan).

Ms. Snyder is backed by former Southern District U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, now a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, and David J. Sheehan, a partner at Baker & Hostetler. John F. Tully, a former assistant general counsel of ExxonMobil, who is now counsel at Fulbright & Jaworski, also supports Ms. Snyder.

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