The Monroe County GOP has picked off one of the Democrats’ top stars. Today, county District Attorney Sandra Doorley announced that she is switching her party enrollment from Democrat to Republican. Doorley’s victory over Republican Bill Taylor in the 2011 DA’s race was a rare prize for local Dems, who haven’t enjoyed much success in their races for countywide offices.
Taylor was in the audience — as was a who’s who of elected Republicans from across the county — as Doorley announced her switch.
Doorley said she arrived at her decision after much reflection and that her personal values have always been more aligned with the GOP; she’s been a registered Republican in the past. But she’s a career prosecutor and wants to run an office focused on effective prosecutions and preventing crime, she said.
“Don’t judge me by the political party I’m aligned with, judge me by the job that I’ve done,” Doorley said.
And the Republicans seemed to think she’s done a good job as DA. During his introductory remarks, GOP chair Bill Reilich touted the office’s
94 percent conviction rate, and said it “successfully prosecuted” 4,987 felony cases and 17,548 misdemeanor cases.
Dems responded by going on the attack. Dave Garretson, chair of the county Democratic Committee, released the following strongly worded statement immediately following Doorley’s announcement:
“Today’s announcement is a disappointment to voters who elected Sandra Doorley believing that she would serve as a strong and independent prosecutor. Republicans in our county face ongoing state and federal investigations, with active indictments on bid-rigging and other public corruption charges. The voters of Monroe County deserve a strong and independent prosecutor. The Democratic Party will be fielding such a candidate this fall.”
This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2015.
I am disappointed with Ms Doorley’s decision to switch parties. She seems to be doing a stellar job as DA. She is in the courtroom on a regular basis. This said, I voted for her as a Democrat. She will not automatically have my vote as a Republician. I believe there is much more to this story and she owes us, the voters, an explanation. The county Republician Party has been involved in many scandals that have not yet been resolved. It is very much an “old boys” club despite the occasional female candidate. Why, Ms Doorley would you choose to align yourself with them and why now? Is there something about the Democrats that made you jump ship? Please explain your decision.
I could be wrong. Anyone have any ideas as to who the Republican party is going to throw in the ring for County Executive, hmm…
This is just the latest piece of evidence of a major rift in the local Democrat party with two wings battling it out – the Lovely Gantt wing and the non-Lovely Gantt wing. Anyone associated with the latter (a classification that includes Doorley) is actively evaluating their options. It goes a long way in explaining this move.
Newyorktaxpayer wrote “I am disappointed with Ms Doorley’s decision to switch parties…The county Republician Party has been involved in many scandals that have not yet been resolved.. Is there something about the Democrats that made you jump ship?” I would answer YES: There are plenty of scandals in the Democrat Party to point to: Locally there are all of the Lovely Warren missteps as well as those by McFadden. Statewide, Cuomo decommissions the Moreland investigative committee, Sheldon Silver probed for failure to report income. Democrats don’t have a monopoly on virtue.
Flashback 2011: GOP Chairman Bill Reilich issued a statement late Tuesday afternoon saying, “Sandra Doorley ran an entire campaign stating that experience matters and that she would run an office free of political influence. With her transition well underway, Doorley has abandoned both with the firing of five Assistant District Attorneys – who have a combined 49 years of experience in the DA’s Office – because of their political affiliation or the suspicion of their lack of support for her campaign.”
It continues, “Making decisions for political reasons is a dangerous way to operate a District Attorney’s Office and these firings fly in the face of everything Sandra Doorley claimed she stood for.”
Ok, so we know a little more about why Ms. Doorly switched parties. Denied the Republician endorsement by the powers that be she became a Democrat to gain their endorsement. Always a Republican at heart, she waited for a time to go back to her original party with assurances that she would be their nominee next time around. Pretty smart, playing both parties to get what she wanted and probably deserved. The Dems certainly do not have a corner on virtue. I just wanted to hear more information about what went into her decision at this time. It seems clear to me now that it was just her own political strategy. Pretty smart. She has played both parties and won!
Whom is it that gives a c@#p !!! Just get reelected and make the office conviction rate 99% ; not 97%, or 94%. There is nothing new ABOUT the County being controlled by Republicans and the City Controlled by Democrats. If all would just work together in partnerships that benefit the entire area.
I am more concerned about whom will win the County Executive Seat whether it is Cheryl DInalfo or Sandra Frankel…please work together and put aside politics and bring back cooperation. Work with the Mayor of Rochester and let us see the great things that can be accomplished.
Craig Robert Moffitt
County Republicans have been involved in scandal after scandal over the past few decades while the prosecutor’s office has either refused to investigate their actions or unable to do so effectively. We would know nothing about county officials’ recent escapades if not for the Attorney General’s investigations.
Now, Drooley, who obviously has her eye on higher political office, has switched to the party of those under investigation, which includes–surprise, surprise–Maggie Brooks’s husband. Does anyone actually think that Drooley will risk her career to throw some of these bums in jail?
We have lacked honest county government in decades. Without an honest, dedicated watchdog in the DA’s office, we’ll never have one again.
To manhattanmike: The Monroe County DA is Sandra DOORLEY, not Drooley. Either you don’t know her name or didn’t correctly spell her name. If you were trying to put her down by purposely misspelling her name as a joke, you should know that resorting to immature name-calling rarely wins anyone over to your argument.
When Joe Morelle left as chair, the party went into free fall. There was enough discord prior because of the battle between him and the Mayor, but, the party chair battle was the complete end of any chance for continued cooperation.
When Dave Garretson became chair it made the situation worse. Doorley wrote a letter to her supporters which explained all the problems. I would rather have a strong DA doing a good job, as she is, then lose her because of political party chaos. I will vote for her for relection.
But my vote aside, how do we fix the party? Who steps up to pull it together? We cannot survive this way! We just lost the highest elected official of the Democratic party…and, I cannot even blame her for making the move. We can gnash our teeth about what happened or we can recognize that this is a real problem…pick one!
Intra-party infighting has no effect on the day to day operations of the DA’s Office. Ms Doorly has said herself that her political philosophy has always been more in line with the Republicans. She said she is more comfortable with them. Her switch to Dems was purely self serving. Blame whoever you want, but that is it in a nutshell. The Dems are a mess, but please do not try and pretty up a cold and calculating political move with a “she just had to do it” excuse. I for one do not buy it. She was is and always will be a Republican. She has made that party relent and say “uncle” and endorse her in the next election . She has got her way. Congratulation Ms Doorly ; one has to admire your smarts.