Thompson Trounces Hynes by 3 to 1 Margin

After being trounced by Democratic nominee Kenneth P. Thompson in Tuesday’s race for Brooklyn District Attorney, Charles J. Hynes said he was “surprised” at the overwhelming support for his opponent, who he said now has a “clear mandate.”

CBS NY reported early Wednesday morning that, with 99% of the precincts reporting, Thompson had beaten Hynes by a 3 to 1 margin, pulling in 75% of the vote to Hynes’ 25%.

Offering up a late night concession speech in a race that was clearly over early, Hynes said that he had called Thompson, but was unable to reach him and left a congratulatory message with a staffer.

Surrounded by family, friends, and staffers—-all of whom had hoped for a better outcome, Hynes thanked everyone for their support, while fielding questions about his decision to relaunch his campaign after being defeated handily in the Democratic primary.

Asked if he regretted relaunching his campaign and running on the Republican and Conservative ticket, Hynes—-amid a roomful of staffers who expressed vocal disdain for the question—-said, “No, not at all.”

Hynes was then asked if he was surprised at the final vote, which showed a dramatic departure from the 10-point difference that separated the two after the primary.

“It’s a substantial vote,” said Hynes. “It gives Ken Thompson a clear mandate—-which he didn’t have after the primary. In the primary he had less than 10 [points] and only 18% showed up. Now it’s a very, very clear mandate. It’s good for him. Yes, I’m surprised it was so wide.”

After being reminded that he had once before promised Thompson a smooth transition—-only to renege and relaunch his campaign, Hynes was asked how he planned to handle Thompson’s transition.

“He has absolute right to have a clean transition,” Hynes said. “He’ll have every opportunity. We’ll have a suite of rooms at headquarters that will be available to his transition team. Hopefully we’ll do it as early as next week.”

Hynes quickly added, “I won’t be around—-because my wife and I have delayed our 50th anniversary trip to Bermuda, but I’m sure Dennis Quirk will be meeting with him and his transition team to work it all out.”

Asked to look back on his years as brooklyn DA, Hynes said, “Oh I’ve had a great, great run. I took an office that in 1990, with 158,000 serious felonies, 760 murders, one out of every 15 of us was the victim of a violent crime…we were the fifth most violent place in America per capita. 13 years later Money magazine said Brooklyn was one of the ten best places to live in America. And we’ve gotten better each year.”

On his legacy, Hynes said, “The legacy is not just the Brooklyn DA’s office, the legacy is the opportunity I’ve had to run two separate state prosecutors’ offices, one with the Medicaid fraud control unit—-which became a model for the country, the other was the corruption unit, out of which came the Howard Beach trial, and I had the privilege of being the Fire Commissioner of this city. So I’ve had a great public career and I can tell you that I’m not going to kick up my heels and relax and read good books. I still have a lot to offer. And when the dust settles and when I leave office on Dec. 31 I’m reasonably sure that they’ll be other opportunities for me.”