Schneiderman
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - State senator Eric Schneiderman looks like he has defeated Republican Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan to become New York's new attorney general.
Both The Associated Press and Newsday called the race -- a close one early on -- in favor of Schneiderman shortly after midnight.
Newsday showed Schneiderman with 54.8 percent of the vote to Donovan's 43.71 percent, with 39.5 percent, or 6,456 of 16,310, of the state's precincts reporting.
On Monday, while doing some last-minute campaigning for Schneiderman, newly elected New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn't hold back in defending the state senator and attacking his GOP rival.
"If we don't have Eric Schneiderman, you're basically going to retire that (Attorney General's) office from service.
"His opponent literally says, 'I don't want to be the sheriff of Wall Street.' What do you mean, you don't want to be the sheriff of Wall Street? The job description is: you're the sheriff of Wall Street. If you don't want the job, don't run for the job," Cuomo said.
In addition to Cuomo, Schneiderman also had received endorsements from the state's senior U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and Hollywood stars Alec Baldwin and Mark Ruffalo.
Schneiderman was first elected to the New York Senate in 1998. According to his campaign website, his efforts were critical in passing the Clinic Access Bill, Hate Crimes legislation, the Women's Health and Wellness Act, legislation to increase the minimum wage, and a host of anti-illegal gun, environmental and civil rights laws.
He currently lives in Manhattan and has a daughter, Catherine.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by e-mail at jessica@legalnewsline.com.