Staten Island District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan Jr. told his staff yesterday he will be a Republican candidate for state attorney general this fall. Sources within the prosecutor’s office said he spread the word during meetings with groups of staffers at which he stressed that his political aspirations should have no bearing on any legal cases the office is working on or will take up during the campaign. Mr. Donovan plans to make a formal announcement on Sunday at events in Manhattan and on Staten Island, sources said. Mr. Donovan, 53, is a two-term district attorney who could still run for re-election in 2011 as the borough’s top prosecutor if he is defeated in the statewide race.
Mr. Donovan’s interest in the attorney general’s slot has been widely known for months, and with no other Republicans running so far, the nomination has been thought to be his for the asking. The state GOP’s nominating convention begins June 1 in Manhattan.
