ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The highly contested democratic primary for the Albany County District Attorney's race, on Tuesday, resulted in challenger Lee Kindlon claiming a victory over incumbent David Soares. With the five-term D.A. out of the democratic ticket, NEWS10 caught up with the republican candidate in the race.
Ralph Ambrosio officially launched his campaign on Thursday and will face Kindlon in November. Ambrosio has been a professional in the criminal justice system for 47 years.
“I’m very seldom ever the smartest person in the room. I’m very seldom the best attorney. But I out-work the other side, and I want to work for the people of Albany county,” said Ambrosio.
Most notably, he was the former Assistant Attorney General under Dennis Vacco. He’s also been an Assistant District Attorney in Greene and Columbia Counties.
Ambrosio believes he has a leg up on Kindlon because Kindlon has never prosecuted a case.
Kindlon believes he has the upperhand because Ambrosio is not “up-to-date on practicing criminal law today” and hasn’t prosecuted a case in decades.
On Tuesday, Kindlon celebrated his win, by more than 2,200 votes. He said a lot of people have reached out to him since then.
“Because this is an opportunity for the district attorney’s office to take a fresh approach to a bunch of old problems,” said Kindlon.
The five-term, current District Attorney David Soares has not yet conceded.
“One of the things I want to do is make sure we broaden our coalition. Obviously, some people voted for David Soares in the primary so it’s my opportunity now to reach out to those voters and say ‘Hey, look I’m the democratic nominee,’ address their concerns, and make sure we bring the party together,” said Kindlon.
A Republican has not held the Albany County District Attorney’s seat since 1974, when Ralph Smith Jr. was appointed. A Republican has not won a district attorney’s race in the county since Arnold Proskin was elected in 1971, but Ambrosio is hoping to change that this year.
“When the Democrats have their primaries, typically they celebrate and the celebration is, ‘Well you’ve just won, because you’ve won the primary now – you’re a Democrat – you know you’re gonna win.’ Don’t measure the drapes just yet for the district attorney’s office,” said Ambrosio.
Ambrosio said he’s looking forward to Election Day for more than one reason, November 5 is also his birthday.
