David Soares

P. David Soares (born October 26, 1969, in Brava, Cape Verde) is the Albany County, New York District Attorney.

He is a Democrat.

Soares was the youngest of the six children of Lucas and Lidia Soares.

He was raised in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Soares and his wife Stacey live in Glenmont, New York, and have two young children.

He has two children from a previous marriage.

Soares worked his way through Albany Law School as an intern for the Albany International Airport Authority, and later for the Albany County, New York District Attorney's office.

He also worked with the Albany Law School AIDS law clinic for prisoners' legal services.

Upon graduation, he was hired as an assistant district attorney by then-DA Sol Greenberg.

On November 2, 2004, Soares was elected as Albany County District Attorney.

He defeated incumbent District Attorney Paul Clyne in a Democratic primary, and in the general election he defeated Clyne (Independence Party) and Roger J. Cusick (Republican).

September 2004 Democratic Primary election for district attorney

November 2004 election for district attorney

Prior to the Democratic primary election for DA of Albany County, New York, Paul Clyne had been considered a "shoo-in" incumbent by the local political establishment.

This prediction, however, failed to materialize when Soares won by a landslide.

Soares' campaign received third-party support from the progressive, union-backed Working Families Party, which viewed Soares' victory as a sign of its own influence and of a mandate for reform of New York's Rockefeller drug sentencing laws (which were opposed by Soares, but supported by Clyne).

Michael Slackman of The New York Times stated that the Party had "established itself as an emerging political force statewide by getting a little-known candidate elected district attorney in Albany County."

Soares' victory was called one of the "most stunning upsets in New York political history."

The New York Times noted the unusual nature of that upset the day that almost all incumbents won easy re-election.

Former DA Clyne, who lost to current DA Soares by a landslide in the 2004 Democratic primaries, initially contemplated opposing his successor for re-election; but eventually he decided not to run.

For a moment it looked as though Soares might run unopposed since no candidate from either major parties, Democratic or Republican, had filed to run for the office of District Attorney of Albany County before the deadline to file expired.

However, since there was still time left for independent candidates to file, Roger Cusick, a Republican, who had opposed DA Soares in 2004 and lost, declared himself as an independent candidate on August 18, one day before the deadline to file as an independent candidate would have expired.

Cusick was able to get enough signatures to put himself in the ballot list.

There was speculation in early 2007 in the local and national media that Soares might run for re-election as District Attorney, or for higher office, in 2008.

Soares was featured in Vibe Magazine, in which interview he discussed his goals and hopes for his career.

On October 26, 2007, Soares was mentioned in the largest local daily newspaper as a possible replacement for Congressman Mike McNulty in the 2008 race for Congress in the 21st congressional district of New York.

He once again opposed DA Soares in the November 2008 election.

In November 2008, Soares won re-election by a landslide, 73% to 27%, with a 50,000 vote margin.

November 2008 election for district attorney

After a canvass, including the counting of all absentee ballots, the vote was 75,857 for Soares on the Democratic line, 6,548 on the Independence Party line, and 4,882 on the Working Families Party line, for a total of 87,287.

Cusick received 31,996 votes, and there were 24 "scattered" and "void", or write-in votes.

There were 29,526 blank votes.

However, Soares opted to run for re-election in 2008 instead.

Soares has faced some criticism.

His drug policy reform position has been disputed by at least one defense lawyer, while some members of Albany police and others consider Soares as "soft" on drug crimes.

He has been criticized for his prosecution of defendants from Florida for selling steroids to residents of Albany County.

Some feel the criticism is politically motivated, and his supporters and independent pundits applaud Soares's progressive approach to criminal prosecution in Albany County.

Attorney Lee Kindlon announced his plans to challenge Soares in a Democratic Party primary in 2012.

Soares was endorsed for re-election by the Albany Times Union.

Soares won the primary on September 13, 2012, by an unofficial count of 14,498 to 10,1432.