Rocah Bests Scarpino In Westchester DA Democratic Primary: UPDATE

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Westchester District Attorney Anthony Scarpino Jr. has conceded to challenger Mimi Rocah in the race to be the Democratic nominee on the November ballot. A news release from his campaign said he called Rocah to congratulate her.

"I look forward to supporting her and Democrats up and down the ballot in November," Scarpino said.

Rocah said she was tremendously honored to be able to declare victory Thursday after receiving Scarpino's call.

"I am grateful to every voter for making their voice heard during this pandemic," she said in a prepared statement. "This result is a strong mandate from voters — they want change in Westchester's criminal justice system as our nation reckons with police misconduct, demands greater accountability and ethics reform at all levels of government."

Rocah's campaign said, with less than 30,000 paper ballots remaining to be counted, Rocah had received 66,289 votes to Scarpino's 25,361, making her the Democratic nominee for the November election.

Prior to her 16-1/2 years as a federal prosecutor, Rocah, 49, a Scarsdale resident, clerked for the Honorable John Gleeson, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the Honorable Chester J. Straub, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She also worked as a litigation associate at the law firm Cravath, Swaine and Moore.

Since 2017, Rocah has been Pace University School of Law's Distinguished Fellow in Criminal Justice and a legal analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. She also served as the PTA School Safety Chair at her children's public elementary school and has organized and led numerous forums in Westchester on public corruption, sexual and domestic violence and online child predators. She has been an active volunteer in Moms Demand Action, working to end gun violence, and My Sister's Place, an organization that helps victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.

She is married with two children.

Rocah will face Bruce Bendish in November. Scarpino, who was hoping for a second term in office, won over Bendish for the district attorney race in 2016.

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