WHEREAS, the New York City 2021 local elections features a vacancy in the Office of Manhattan District Attorney; and

WHEREAS, seven candidates seeking to be the next Manhattan District Attorney submitted a UFT candidate questionnaire and were screened by a committee comprised of UFT members who work and live in Manhattan; and

WHEREAS, all union members who live and work in Manhattan were encouraged to register and participate in a virtual town hall that featured the top three candidates — Alvin Bragg, Eliza Orlins, and Dan Quart—for a final interview conducted by a committee of union members representative of the borough; and

WHEREAS, Alvin Bragg served as the chief deputy attorney general in New York State overseeing some of the office’s biggest cases, including suing film producer Harvey Weinstein over the existence of a hostile work environment, challenging the Trump administration over the U.S. Census for its inclusion of citizenship questions; and bringing significant criminal charges in bribery, securities fraud and Medicaid fraud matters; and

WHEREAS, Alvin Bragg demonstrated to the UFT members in Manhattan that he would best serve the needs of their borough and pledged to support our local schools and prioritize the needs of the UFT; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT endorses Alvin Bragg for the office of Manhattan District Attorney.