D.A. Kevin Kortright shamed in the press

Once again, incumbent Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright has been publicly declared a failure and incompetent in the Post-Star newspaper.  This time it wasn’t about him dropping the ball on some important prosecution, it was a slaying piece concerning his re-election campaign practices at the Washington County Fair.

Up until this point his campaign, or lack thereof, has barely made an impact during this Republican primary race. If it wasn’t for the Washington County Republican Committee strong-arming its committeemen, he would barely have a chance, so  it’s surprising his first real efforts of trying to get his name out there in an election — which is only weeks away — could turn so negatively against him.  He even made flyers with the wrong times to vote!  Kortright’s campaign is reflective of his mentality and work ethic during his term in office as District Attorney.

Robert Winn, who is challenging Kevin Kortright for the Republican ballot line on September 15th, has received the Conservative Party endorsement and is receiving tremendous growing support for his campaign.  Winn was District Attorney for 16 years until 2005 and has a record of proven fairness and integrity while the lead prosecutor for Washington County.  Winn proscuted high profile murder cases and established programs for the county, including a domestic violence program and a victim’s advocate program.

In comparison of both candidates, you can see a stark difference in the quality and competency of who is currently in office and who should actually be in office.

Here are some excerpts of the news article titled “Opponent cries foul at Kortright campaign” from the Post-Star’s August 26th issue:

“Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright’s decision to spend a week campaigning at the Washington County Fair has his opponent questioning whether he is violating an ethical rule for prosecutors.

Former District Attorney Robert Winn said he believes Kortright is violating an ethical guideline of the New York State District Attorneys Association that prosecutors should not “engage in any political activity during normal business hours.”

He said Kortright is creating a bad appearance by spending a week of workdays at the fair, which could undermine confidence in the district attorney’s office and which “offends the public’s sensibilities.”

Kortright said he saw nothing wrong with his decision to campaign at the fair.”

And here’s another great snippet of Kortright being proven wrong again:

“Kortright said he believes the district attorney’s association rules on political activity pertain to prosecutors assisting other candidates’ campaigns, not their own.

That prompted Winn to say he has a video of Kortright at a weekday campaign rally for Assemblyman James Tedisco during Tedisco’s failed bid for the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year. Kortright said he took compensatory time that day to attend the rally.”

Want to see the video of D.A. Kevin Kortright mingling with politicos during office hours at the Jim Tedisco for Congress rally?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ8vbJfHBvI

Must be nice to be paid $120,000 a year to be the “no-show D.A.”  Makes one wonder: does he take a county car while out-and-about?  What else has he done to cause the D.A.’s office to go vastly over-budget at the taxpayers expense?