Richard Aborn, candidate for Manhattan district attorney, has received the first endorsement of a Harlem elected official. “I like him, and more importantly, I think he can win,” says Bill Perkins, a state senator, tells Daily Intel. The Manhattan D.A.’s race is one of the more hotly contested primaries this fall, not only because the winner will replace the legendary Robert Morgenthau, who has been in office for 35 years, but also because all of the candidates — the others are Cyrus Vance, Morgenthau’s choice, and retired judge and former prosecutor Leslie Crocker Snyder — have little if any executive experience and are still unknown to many voters. Early polls show that Snyder has an edge on Vance and Aborn in Manhattan, where registered female voters outnumber men. But in both campaigns, Aborn is the candidate each of the others is more worried about. Perkins’ endorsement of Aborn is especially noteworthy, considering the legislator has worked closely with Morgenthau’s office on issues in the past and, instead of kowtowing to Morgenthau’s wishes, chose the other man. Harlem is also a crucial territory Vance and Aborn need to win in order to compete with Snyder’s perceived edge with women.
