Susan Cacace declares victory in Democratic primary for Westchester District Attorney
Susan Cacace declared victory Tuesday night in the Democratic primary for Westchester District Attorney as she held a solid lead over William Wagstaff III.
Cacace, who stepped down as a Westchester County judge in the fall in hopes of running the office where she began her legal career, defeated Wagstaff 58% to 31%, according to unofficial results from the Westchester Board of Elections.
That was close to the 61-30 advantage she enjoyed during early voting.
She was widely seen as the front-runner after Democratic leaders picked her in February to replace Mimi Rocah, who decided not to seek a second term.
About an hour after the polls closed, Cacace showed up to a gathering of supporters at Underhills Crossing, a restaurant near her home in Bronxville. They cheered for her and urged her to speak louder, one yelling, "Talk with your DA voice".
She thanked "Team Cacace" — her family and campaign staff — and said the win was a culmination of seven months of hard work. "Everyone here was part of the process and for that I thank you all," she said.
It was the second straight DA election in which Democratic challengers forced a primary against the choice of party leaders. In 2020 Rocah trounced the incumbent Anthony Scarpino and easily became the DA when the Republican candidate did not run an active campaign.
Democrats enjoy a nearly 3-to-1 advantage among registered voters in the county .
Cacace faces Republican candidate John Sarcone in the general election. As of now, Wagstaff holds the Working Families line on the ballot. He has touted himself as a committed Democrat and could not be reached Tuesday night to discuss whether he will continue to run in the race. Sarcone, a lawyer from Croton-on-Hudson, has previously run unsuccessfully for state Attorney General and state Supreme Court justice.
Cacace acknowledged the battle won was not the end of the war. "The voters of Westchester have spoken and hopefully they will vote the same way in November," she told the crowd.
The winner will be the fourth DA in Westchester in nine years.
Wagstaff, a civil rights attorney who has never worked in a prosecutor’s office, was running for elective office for the first time and hopes to be the county's first Black DA. He argued a fresh perspective was needed at a time when criminal justice reform has not been fully implemented and promised to bring data-driven solutions to help tackle a wide range of crimes.
Cacace spent 14 years as a prosecutor in the Westchester DA's office and two years in private practice before her election to the county bench in 2005. She won re-election to a second 10-year term in 2015.
She touted her wide-ranging experience in all aspects of the criminal justice system. And she turned aside efforts by Wagstaff and former prosecutor Adeel Mirza to paint her as something less than a Democrat based on her acceptance of the Republican and Conservative lines in the uncontested 2015 election.
Mirza dropped out on the eve of early voting two weeks ago and endorsed Wagstaff. But his name remained on the ballot and he was polling at around 10 percent according to the unofficial results.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Susan Cacade declares victory in Westchester DA race
