Primary preview: Five Democrats vie for attorney general

ALBANY -- The crowded field for the Democratic nomination for attorney general brings varied experiences and the trading of plenty of barbs.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice has been knocked for failing to vote for nearly 20 years. Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, has been questioned on whether he can police the Legislature after being a lawmaker.

The campaign contributions from Sean Coffey and his former law firm to state pension fund managers has drawn scrutiny. Former state Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo has had to defend his ties to his former boss, scandal-scarred Eliot Spitzer, the state's former attorney general and governor.

And Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, Westchester County, was labeled in a New York Times editorial as being able to claim "real accomplishments" but that "his divisive style is ill suited to the job."

The vitriol led Schneiderman to ask his Democratic foes to lower the decibel level.

"Party unity and strength is more important than any one of our individual ambitions," he wrote in a letter.

The candidates are seeking the party's nod in the Sept. 14 primary in a seat being vacated by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is the party's nominee for governor. The winner will face Republican candidate, Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan on Election Day, Nov. 2.

It's difficult to name a clear frontrunner, political analysts say. With five candidates and an expected low voter turnout, the margin of victory will likely be small in a state with about 5.8 million Democrats and 2.7 million Republicans.

And all the candidates have enough campaign cash - at least $1.5 million for each of them -- to deluge voters with ads. They'll need it: A Quinnipiac University poll last month showed 81 percent of Democratic voters were undecided in the race.

"This is a very difficult race to predict," said Steven Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena College Polling Institute. "You could win this race with 200,000 to 250,000 votes out of about 5.5 million Democrats."

Beyond the predictions and political attacks is a pitched debate about the future direction of the attorney general's office, which in recent years has been a springboard for those seeking higher office.

Under Spitzer, the attorney general's office became nationally known for its fight against Wall Street corruption, propelling him to governor's office in 2007.

Under Cuomo, the office's pursuits have included abuses in the state's pension system and the student-loan and banking industries. Now he's the frontrunner to be governor.

The attorney general's race has been shaped around the need to restore integrity in state government, which has been marred by scandal and voter anger.

Rice Touts Experience As Prosecutor

Rice, 45, was first elected in 2005 and again last year. She said she would bring experience as a prosecutor to the statewide position, saying she has aggressively taken on drug and drunken-driving cases and tackled public corruption in Nassau County.

She won the most support at the Democratic convention in May and had the most campaign cash, $4.4 million, as of mid-August.

"I believe that I can be a vehicle for the reform that we need in Albany to restore the confidence that all of us need to have," Rice said.

Rice, a former Republican, admitted she made a mistake in not voting for about 18 years, which was first reported last month by Newsday. She explained that in her career fighting for social justice, she was once turned off by politics.

"I have said very clearly and openly that it was a mistake, that I deeply regret not being a more active voter when I was younger. But I also believe that mistakes of your past should not limit your future," she said.

Schneiderman Talks Up Reform

Elected to the Senate in 1998, Schneiderman, 55, has championed what he deems a progressive Democratic agenda, including reforms to boost alternative-to-incarceration programs and proposals to toughen gun laws.

"Given the role of the attorney general, all of the different issues you have to address, and the need to really have a disposition to stand up to folks who are richer and more powerful than you are -- this is who I am," he said.

But his opponents have chided him for being part of a Senate Democratic majority that has been plagued by scandal. Schneiderman counters that he led the Senate panel that recommended the expulsion last year of Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, who was convicted of attacking his girlfriend.

"We didn't have a reform movement when I got to Albany. And we do now and I'm very proud to have been a part of building it," he said.

Coffey Comes From Outside Government

Coffey, meanwhile, is trying to run as a political outsider never having run for public office. He brings experience as a former federal prosecutor and top defense attorney, gaining national attention when he represented investors in a WorldCom securities case and in a fraud case involving the Baptist Foundation of Arizona.

"The machinery of state government is badly broken and I believe I have the legal experience, the leadership experience, the temperament and, very important, the independence to get in there and be a catalyst for change in Albany," said Coffey, a former Navy officer.

The Wall Street Journal reported this month that Coffey made about $150,000 in campaign contributions in various states as his former Manhattan law firm was seeking to represent public pension funds.

Coffey, 54, of Bronxville, Westchester County, defended the donations, saying there was no quid pro quo. He said he supports campaign-finance reform, including public financing of campaigns.

Dinallo Had Top Role In Office He Seeks

Dinallo, 47, of Manhattan, touts his experience as a lead attorney in Spitzer's attorney general's office, saying he played a major role in the corruption cases on Wall Street. He headed the office's Investor Protection Bureau and has been credited with identifying the little-known Martin Act in state law that allowed the office to prosecute Wall Street fraud.

When Spitzer was elected governor, Dinallo was named state Insurance superintendent, where he was praised for helping federal regulators keep AIG afloat and for some major settlements in the health care and financial industries.

He left the administration a year after Spitzer's resignation in March 2008. He teaches ethics at New York University's Stern School of Business. Despite Spitzer's fall, "he transformed the agency and my work with him transformed it into the Wall Street watchdog," Dinallo said.

Brodsky Cites Investigations

Brodsky, 64, was first elected to the state Assembly in 1982 and has gained statewide attention as chairman of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions.

The position led him to investigate the public financing of the new Yankee Stadium, abuses of the state Empire Zone economic-development program and corruption in the state's hundreds of little-known public authorities.

He said he's tried to focus on issues that affect New Yorkers and their livelihoods, such as investigating energy rates set by public utilities. His television ad calls him, the "People's Protector."

In the end, the attorney general it seems to me has to be able to deal with the problems New Yorkers face in their everyday lives," he said. "And that I think is what distinguishes me."

As for his aggressive style that has led to clashes with the Yankees brass and other political leaders: "There's no doubt that I'm controversial. I'm controversial because I haven't backed down from taking on big, tough players. "