Nassau DA Running to Replace Rep. McCarthy

A suburban New York prosecutor who has attracted national headlines for murder convictions in DUI cases and a crackdown on college entrance exam cheating announced late Wednesday she is running for Congress.

Kathleen Rice, who won a double-digit victory in November as Nassau County district attorney, said Wednesday night she will be the Democratic candidate to succeed retiring Rep. Carolyn McCarthy.

Rice signaled she will seek to emulate McCarthy, one of the country’s most visible gun control advocates; she was elected after her husband was killed in the 1993 Long Island Railroad massacre.

McCarthy, who has been treated for lung cancer, endorsed Rice Wednesday night.

With no incumbent, the race for the seat in a suburban district could be one to watch. Ian Prior, a spokesman for the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, called the district “a likely pickup opportunity for a strong Republican candidate.”

On Wednesday, Rice sent Gov. Andrew Cuomo a letter resigning from a state panel investigating corruption by public officials. As co-chair of the Moreland Commission, she said she wanted to safeguard the commission’s work from potential distractions.

This article appeared in print on page 4 of the January 31st, 2014 edition of Hamodia.