Ken Thompson unseats Hynes in historic election, will become first black DA

NEW YORK
Brooklyn Daily

Brooklyn primary voters rendered a stunning verdict on six-term District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes — and sentenced him to retirement.

Former federal prosecutor Ken Thompson scored an historic upset against Hynes in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary — bringing the incumbent’s 23-year tenure as Brooklyn’s top lawman to a startling close. Thompson is the first challenger to unseat an incumbent district attorney in more than a century, and will become the first African-American to hold the office.

Hynes — who had already secured the Republican and Conservative lines on the November ballot — chose to bow out of his position. The defeated DA said he would spend the following months working with Thompson to transfer the reins of power. …

Hynes also suffered from bad press over his office’s weak response to sex abuse cases in the Orthodox Jewish community — a powerful voting block that long backed him.

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