ALBANY – The Republican seeking to unseat state Lawyer Normal Letitia James sees a path to victory as a result of New Yorkers are “uninterested in the lawlessness” below her watch, she informed The Publish.
Saritha Komatireddy, a self-professed political outsider motivated into public service after the 9/11 terror assaults, had dealt with circumstances as a federal prosecutor towards Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists earlier than launching an completed profession as a lawyer, together with on the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Manhattan-based mom of 4, who was tapped by the GOP as its nominee final month, stated woke and soft-on-crime insurance policies are making it harder and harder to reside within the Empire State.
“This stuff have an effect on harmless folks. They have an effect on on a regular basis New Yorkers. And I believe New Yorkers throughout the political spectrum simply are uninterested in the lawlessness,” stated Komatireddy, 41.
The candidate is a born-and-raised New Yorker, and daughter of immigrants who emigrated from India and settled in Coney Island within the Nineteen Eighties.
After the 9/11 assaults, she was motivated to pursue a profession in legislation enforcement. She earned a legislation diploma from Harvard Regulation and clerked for Supreme Court docket Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he sat on the Court docket of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
She went on to prosecute circumstances towards terrorists and narcotics traffickers within the Jap District of New York. In 2020, President Trump nominated her for a federal judgeship within the district, although it by no means moved ahead previous to the tip of his first time period.
She’s now a companion at Holzman Vogel.
The prosecutor stated she desires to make her marketing campaign about her imaginative and prescient the place the AG’s workplace will get powerful — cracking down on drug crimes, antisemitism and rampant disregard for legal guidelines in public locations like New York Metropolis homeless shelters.
She additionally pointed to a necessity for extra oversight of Democrats’ stranglehold on state authorities itself – pointing to an urgency to root out fraud in Medicaid and different non-profit-fueled social companies.
“We’ve got to be sure that the folks taking taxpayer cash to supply companies are literally offering these companies,” she argued.
“Once we audit and examine each homeless shelter within the state, we can see who’s doing a superb job, who’s doing a nasty job, who’s making a protected house and who shouldn’t be,” Komatireddy stated.
She stated she would sort out grift that’s being fueled by one-party rule and lack of accountability.
“Everybody in an official place is buddies with everybody else, and nobody’s actually a examine,” Komatireddy stated – including that she wouldn’t “goal folks for his or her politics.”
That’s precisely what she accuses James of doing in her indictment and conviction of Trump on native costs within the 4 years he was out of workplace, earlier than he received a second time period in 2024 reelection.
Komatireddy stated James was flawed to have campaigned on the premise of pursuing the prosecution of a political opponent.
“That was flawed. Actual prosecutors, they don’t goal folks. They aim crimes,” she stated.
She wouldn’t say the Trump administrator took that very same method once they tried to prosecute James for mortgage fraud for claiming a second house in Virginia was a main residence in paperwork.
“I’m going to belief the attorneys on the Division of Justice to do the proper factor in that case,” she stated noting that she hadn’t “regarded on the file” in James’ case.
However Komatireddy stated she additionally wouldn’t take a predetermined or “knee-jerk” method to coping with the federal authorities below Trump if she finally unseated James.
“I’d rule out making selections based mostly on politics. I’m not going to have a knee-jerk partisan response to something,” she stated.
James, 67, has performed a central function in dozens of lawsuits towards Trump in simply the primary 12 months of his second time period. This consists of a number of meant to power the federal authorities to unfreeze funding for enormous federal initiatives just like the Gateway Tunnel and Second Avenue Subway.
The political newcomer faces an uphill battle towards James, a darling of the progressive left who took workplace as AG in 2019 after the resignation of Eric Schneiderman. No Republican has served as AG since Dennis Vacco left workplace in 1998.
No Republican has received statewide in New York since former Gov. George Pataki received a 3rd time period in 2002.
Democrats now signify 48% of registered voters within the state whereas Republicans signify 22%. Some 25% of registered voters are unaffiliated, in keeping with the newest Board of Elections figures.
Komatireddy stated she’s assured having a message of security and group ought to resonate sufficient to get her sufficient consideration forward of November.
The gravity for Komatireddy getting the celebration nod shifted dramatically early this 12 months after 2022 GOP lawyer common candidate Michael Henry dropped his comeback bid.
Komatireddy finally beat out Khurram Dara, a lawyer from the cryptocurrency sector, for the GOP nomination and Republicans’ conference on Lengthy Island final month.
