Election 2022: NY Attorney General's race

NEW YORK - The race for Attorney General in New York features Democratic incumbent Letitia James and her Republican challenger Michael Henry.

James is running to serve New Yorkers for the next four years and says she has a record to stand on.

"We've gone and we have issued investigations against Democrats, Republicans, it really doesn't matter," James explained. "There is one system of law, no one should be above the law. What we're trying to do is root out corruption. Politics stops at the door of the office of the Attorney General."

James was the first woman to be elected as Attorney General in New York, and she has used her position to lead high-profile investigations against former Governor Andrew Cuomo and former President Donald Trump.

"We just make sure that the laws apply to all of us equally and fairly," James said. "There's only one system of law, not for the rich, but one for all of us."

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Her opponent, Michael Henry, is not as well-known but toured counties across the state running on the message that he is the one to fight crime, whether in the streets of Brooklyn or the halls of the state capitol in Albany.

"The issues that we focus on transcend party affiliation," Henry explained. "It’s crime, it's corruption, it's the cost of living."

Henry says when it comes to public safety, he would create a Joint Task Force on certain issues like organized crime and insurance fraud.

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He says he also believes bail reform has contributed to the rise in robberies and break-ins and says he would work with state lawmakers to have the law repealed.

"I would use the bully pulpit," Henry said. "One thing that was troubling to me is the current attorney general recently said she needed to see more data before she'd revisit any changes to bail reform. More data means more victims and I feel that one victim is one victim too many."

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We asked James if she would be open to making changes to the cashless bail laws that have been in effect since 2020.

"All throughout my public career, I've been focusing on public safety," James said. "With respect to bail reform my position is the following, we should look at the data, but we should also as we look at bail reform, we should not look at look at it in isolation."

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James says that when looking at bail reform she also wants to look at the criminal justice system as a whole.

"We really need to focus on mental illness, pretrial services, the need for more probation officers, more correctional officers and more police as well, James said. "We need to look at the full spectrum of issues that are driving up crime."

We asked Henry, if elected, what would be some key initiatives he would push forward in the first 100 days in office.

"The first thing I would want to do is work to help get this Fentanyl crisis under control," Henry said. "Also, obviously the crime."

Henry also points out the different agencies overseen by the Attorney General’s office and says he would streamline permit applications and cut bureaucracy to help make the state friendlier to businesses.

"This office could be used to streamline how we do business in the state and make it more prosperous for small business," Henry said. "Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and we're not giving people a chance to succeed the way things are right now."

Right now the Attorney General is defending in court New York’s recently passed concealed carry gun laws.

Asked if she thinks the laws will hold up, James said "We’re defending it in court and obviously if it is struck down, the legislature will come back and make sure that it passes constitutional muster and we will defend it, But it's so critically important that we have responsible gun laws in place."

We also asked Henry if he would uphold New York’s laws in court, even if he disagreed personally, like the concealed carry laws.

"I personally think the law is a little too broad," Henry said. "I think that it was a reaction to what happened in Erie, the shooting in the Buffalo supermarket. I'm going to review everything with an independent mind when I get into the office."

James spent a limited time on the campaign trail this year and is the only statewide candidate to turn down a debate. 

When asked why, this was James' response:

"Because I'm here in Flushing and soon I'll be in Jackson Heights," James said. "I was in Brooklyn over the weekend. I'll be in the Bronx later on this week. We are bringing our message to New Yorkers and we are debating individuals on the streets and that is the best place to debate individuals."