By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Kathleen Rice, the District Attorney for Nassau County, announced Monday that she is joining the race to to succeed Andrew Cuomo as New York State Attorney General.
She joins a crowded field that already includes fellow Democrats State Sen. Eric Schneiderman; Eric Dinallo, former aide in the Spitzer administration and Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.
Rice, who made the announcement a day later than originally scheduled because of the media focus on the Times Square car bomb, is said to be in line for endorsements from the Nassau and Suffolk County Democratic organizations.
Rice is viewed as a shoo-in for the county endorsements necessary to win a spot on the ballot during the state's Democratic Party Convention May 25-27.
She is widely regarded as relentless in her pursuit of wrongdoing, especially when it comes to cases involving drunk drivers and drugs.
“Protecting our citizens from crime is the most fundamental role of state government,” Rice said in a campaign video. “A prosecutor is the last line of defense against the worst elements of humanity.”
Rice noted in the video that she has spent her life “not as a career politician, but as a career prosecutor,” presenting herself as an alternative option to Schneiderman and Brodsky.
