ONONDAGA COUNTY, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Incumbent Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick fended off two challengers as he secured another, and possibly final, four-year term.
Fitzpatrick defeated Democrat Chuck Keller and Conservative Party candidate Christine Varga.
This marks Fitzpatrick’s ninth term as DA, as he was first elected to the position in 1991. He has stated that this will be his final term.
Fitzpatrick recently has been rallying against bail reform and the “Raise the Age” law passed by New York State.
The “Raise the Age” law was passed in 2017 and allows 16-year-old and 17-year-old minors who commit serious crimes to go to juvenile detention centers instead of adult facilities. The state has also passed a series of bail reforms that eliminate bail for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies.
Keller, a defense attorney, has supported New York bail reforms in the past.
The Onondaga County Conservative Party has supported Fitzpatrick in previous elections but nominated Gary Lavine for the party’s line in 2019, and Varga was their candidate for this year’s election.
Although Varga garnered the votes to be the Conservative Party candidate, the party officially endorsed Keller.
At the completion of this term, Fitzpatrick will surpass New York State’s longest ever serving District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, who was in power for 34 years in Manhattan.
