STATEN ISLAND — The race to become Staten Island's top prosecutor ends Tuesday when voters head to the polls to choose between Joan Illuzzi and Michael McMahon.
The two have traded barbs on several issues during the campaign to replace Rep. Dan Donovan — who left his post last year to head to Congress — with the Republican Illuzzi repeatedly criticizing McMahon's lack of experience as a prosecutor.
"The gap of his knowledge about what it means to be a prosecutor would be staggering," Illuzzi, who worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan for 27 years, said during last month's debate.
Democrat McMahon brushed off the criticism, saying the role of DA was not to try cases in court, but to help assistant prosecutors in the office get the resources needed to get convictions.
In the debate, McMahon — who previously served in the City Council and as a Congressman for Staten Island — slammed Illuzzi for not being civically engaged in the borough. Illuzzi responded she was too busy working late nights to vote.
On the issues facing Staten Island, both agreed that the heroin and prescription drug problem was one of the most serious and released plans on how they would tackle it if elected.
McMahon released a 10-point plan that includes permanently making the Narcotics Bureau a part of the DA's office, aggressively pursues drug traffickers and creates a task force with neighboring states.
Illuzzi's plans to tackle the problem include coordinating tactics with multiple law enforcement agencies, targeting drugs at the source and aggressively prosecuting drug dealers.
Another issue Illuzzi vowed to tackle if elected was elder abuse and she promised to set up a hotline which seniors could call for advice on potential scams.
McMahon promised to fight the domestic violence problem on Staten Island and work to increase the funding of the Staten Island District Attorney's office.
Illuzzi recently picked up endorsements from the Staten Island Advance, the New York Daily News and the New York Post. She was also backed by elected officials including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Assembly members Nicole Malliotakis and Joe Borelli, City Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo and other groups.
McMahon won endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police, the Patrolmen Benevolent Association, Lieutenants Benevolent Association, Sen. Charles Schumer, Bridge and Tunnel officers, the Detectives Endowment Association, State Sen. Diane Savino, Assembly members Matthew Titone and Michael Cusick and other groups.
McMahon out-funded Illuzzi, raising more than double her coffers.
He was chosen by the Conservative party for its primary but he lost to Illuzzi, who ran as a write-in candidate, in September.
