Bob Morgenthau, who turns 90 next month, can’t take the waiting anymore: According to sources close to the retiring D.A., Morgenthau has moved up the schedule and wants to hold his official endorsement of Cyrus Vance Jr. later this week. The location is still being hashed out, but insiders expect it to take place on the steps of one of the city’s major courthouses. Originally, the Vance campaign had expected Morgenthau’s endorsement to come after the petitioning period. But Morgy apparently feels that Vance needs to — as Morgy tends to say — “get big MO” on his side. It’s unclear how much impact Morgenthau’s endorsement of Vance will have. According to a poll Morgenthau commissioned earlier this year, obtained by New York, respondents were asked whether Morgenthau’s endorsement would have any effect on who they might vote for to replace him. A majority (56 percent) said his endorsement would have “no effect.”
Already, Morgenthau has failed to convince elected officials and the leaders of political clubs to back Vance. Richard Aborn, a former gun-control advocate, prosecutor, and police consultant, has so far captured most of such endorsements. Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, the other candidate, is considered to have the highest name recognition, since she ran against Morgenthau in 2005.
Morgenthau’s endorsement of Vance comes as no surprise, as he already endorsed him, just without the press conference and pageantry. “I want to see Vance elected,” he said.
Related: For more on Morgenthau and Crocker Snyder, check out Geoff Gray’s article in this week’s New York: The Old Man and the She.
Earlier: Morgenthau Spurns Longtime No. 2 in D.A. Race
