Susan Cacace, with supporters in Mount Vernon
Westchester Democrats will be asked to cast their vote, by absentee ballot, early voting or on primary day June 25 to determine who their party’s candidate for District Attorney will be. Incumbent District Attorney Mimi Rocah is not running for reelection. Three candidates are running in the democratic primary: Susan Cacace, William Wagstaff and Adeel Mirza.
After careful weighing the candidates, their experience, their platforms and their vision, we’ve decided to endorse Susan Cacace in the democratic primary on June 25 and in early voting starting June 15. Cacace has the perfect combination, in our view, of experience, and new ideas to move the office of DA forward.
Cacace has served as a County Court Judge for 14 years. At the time of her retirement, December 7, 2023, Cacace was the longest tenured County Court Judge of Westchester County, having been elected in 2005 and re-elected in 2015. She gave up her County Court seat to run for DA, which is a testament to her desire to serve the people of Westchester as DA.
Shortly after she took the bench, Judge Cacace’s unique qualifications and expertise in the areas of crimes against children and sex offenses committed against the most vulnerable victims, our children and our elderly, lead to her assignment to preside over the Sex Offense Part in 2010 – a position that she has continued to hold for the ensuing 14-years. In this capacity, Judge Cacace was responsible for handling all felony sex crimes throughout all phases of their prosecution in the County Court.
In addition, Judge Cacace served as the first presiding judge of the DWI Part of Westchester County, where she spearheaded the crafting of consistent dispositions of all felony-level DWI cases throughout Westchester County from its creation in 2014-2023.
And during this campaign, Cacace announced her support for new legislation to aid sexual assault victims and vigorous prosecution of sex crimes in Westchester. Legislation introduced by Senator Michael Gianaris and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin would allow New York State Courts to make evidence of prior sexual offenses admissible at trial. This legislative move follows the reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction by New York’s highest court.
“Evidence of other sexual assaults by the abuser should be admissible in court as long as it doesn’t create an unfair bias. Victims should not be silenced. If elected DA, I will do everything in my power to make sure that sex crimes are vigorously prosecuted and that survivors of these heinous crimes get the justice they deserve.” We have confidence in Cacace’s ability as DA to balance the needs of victims with the rights of the accused.
Cacace also has experience in the Westchester District Attorney’s office, serving as an Assistant District Attorney for Westchester County from 1989 through 2003, where she tried felony cases as a member of the Superior Court Trial Division while also coordinating the Animal Cruelty Division.
Cacace, who has been rated 100% pro-choice by Choice Matters and as a 2024 Gun Sense Candidate by Moms Demand Action, wants to improve communications and relations between the District Attorney’s office and the community. “I feel it is incredibly important that our prosecutors have an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a local kid from Mount Vernon, a senior citizen from Mamaroneck or an at-risk youth from Yonkers. I also believe it is important that people understand the efforts of law enforcement and that they hear from us on what we do and why we do it. Should I be elected district attorney, I look forward to building these programs and to expanding on what was already begun by current DA Mimi Rocah,” wrote Cacace, in a recent OP Ed.
We find Susan Cacace to be the most experienced and qualified candidate running for Westchester District Attorney. Her opponents lack the leadership, ethics and commitment to Justice that Judge Cacace brings to the table, and what is critical to run an office with over 40 Police Departments that prosecutes more than 20,000 cases per year.
Adeel Mirza is attempting to lead a District Attorney’s office that he was fired from and escorted out of the office. Now he wants to lead that same office.
We’ve seen many of the mail pieces coming out of the Mirza campaign and not only do they lack substance, but they seem to prioritize negative messages about his opponent. In fact, the Westchester Fair Campaign Practices Committee, recently ruled against Adeel Mirza and the campaign committee Mirza4DA, and determined that two mailers paid for by Mirza4DA were “unfair campaign practices” that violates the FCPC Principle that “The candidate will not use or condone any campaign material or advertisement that misstates, misrepresents or distorts material fact or any communication that misleads the public,”
William Wagstaff’s campaign claims that the criminal justice system needs reimagining. While crime is steady in Westchester at large, we are wondering how an attorney with only 7 years of experience, none of which we are told has ever been prosecutorial, expects to run an office that processes approximately 20,000 cases a year. Aside from his lack of experience, how can the DA effectively prosecute cases without a strong, respectful, collaborative relationship with local law enforcement? As per the wagstaffforda.com website, we could not find any endorsements from local law enforcement groups before our publication.
And Wagstaff did not pay his Federal Income Taxes over a six-year period, totaling more than $189,000, and he did not find his tax troubles worthy of mention to Westchester democratic leaders we spoke to, who were concerned and disappointment and had no knowledge of this before the story broke.
Wagstaff recently earned $726,000 from the City of Mount Vernon as a “Special Prosecutor” but did not use his earnings to pay his taxes on time, resulting in several democratic leaders asking the question, if you can handle your personal finances, how can we trust you to run the office of Westchester District Attorney?
Susan Cacace has the combination of experience in the office that she now wants to lead, as a Judge for 20 years, and as a defense attorney. She has seen it all from all sides.
And as we go to press, Cacace has received the endorsements from Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, and Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah.
Yonkers Rising, Westchester Rising and Yonkerstimes.com endorse Susan Cacace for Westchester District Attorney in the democratic primary June 25.
