A month before the Democratic primary, Albany County district attorney candidate Lee Kindlon has received an endorsement from the mayor of Albany.
Tuesday morning in Academy Park, across from City Hall, Mayor Kathy Sheehan praised Kindlon as the June 25th primary nears.
"I have known Lee Kindlon for many years now," said Sheehan. "And I have admired his integrity. I have admired how hard he works. And I have admired the fact that he understands and holds really true the rules and the laws of our state and of our country. And it's important, it's important when you think about the district attorney's office, and the people who come here expecting justice. And time and time again, we've seen that when the district attorney doesn't like a rule or doesn't think much of a rule he chooses not to follow it. And that to me undermines people's faith and confidence in what is happening in meting out justice in our county."
In 2020, Sheehan backed attorney Matt Toporowski in his primary run against Soares. Soares won with 56% of the vote.
Kindlon and Soares previously locked horns in the 2012 primary. Kindlon, an ex-Marine prosecutor who works in his family’s high-profile Capital District firm, blamed Soares for Albany County’s high crime rate. His position remains unchanged in 2024.
"I talked about it 12 years ago, and it's, it's a problem that hasn't gone away," Kindlon said. "But they're trying to find these reforms, trying to blame the reforms, for all the problems. And that just, that isn't true, because all across the state, district attorney's offices and police departments are dealing with the same reforms. But they've seen successes. And they understand that these are rules that they have to work with. And people are seeing successes. Men and women are seeing successes with bail reform and raise the age. So I don't think it's the problem that David Soares wants it to be to cover for his own failures."
Kindlon and Sheehan criticzed Soares' failure to file campaign disclosure forms in this election and in the past.
"Making a campaign filing is important, because it's not just about paperwork," Sheehan said. "This isn't a bureaucratic task, that those of us who are elected can choose to be above. It's the way that our democracy has transparency, so that we can see who's supporting a candidate, how much money they're getting, where they're spending their money on their campaign. These are important rules. And it's important to follow them. And I think it's important that we have a district attorney who understands that we have to work within a system. And while that system is imperfect, and may need changing, it is the district attorney's job to work alongside others, to make those policy changes and to do the things that they want to see done with respect to how our justice system functions."
Albany County Democrats declined to support Soares' re-election bid for a sixth four-year term, opening the door for challengers, after a salary bonus Soares gave himself from a state grant made headlines, eventually forcing him to give the money back under pressure. Soares claimed it was a politically-motivated attack. Enter Kindlon, who promises "good, hard-nosed hands on prosecutions" and an audit of the DA's office, if he goes on to win election in November.
"The people of Albany County deserve hard truths and good answers so we can figure out where to go from there. Because all of this, you know, 'push it under the rug.' It's not my problem.' You know, 'it's a political hit.' You know, those aren't real answers for people," Kindlon said.
Soares' reelection campaign issued a statement in response to Sheehan's endorsement, calling the mayor "feckless," claiming she "and political cronies decided to 'wag the dog' and endorse a defense attorney who spent last week defending a murderer in Schenectady."
