When Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick won a ninth term in 2023, he was quoted as saying it was his "last hurrah." But now, the 73-year old Republican, who’s been the county’s top prosecutor for 35 years, says he’ll run for a 10th term next year.
"Most of the time I said 'yeah, I think this is my last run,'" Fitzpatrick said. "And if people are upset by that, so be it. But it's nothing more complicated than I changed my mind. There's no back story to it other than that."
Fitzpatrick said people in the community have asked him to consider running again.
"My sense of the community is that they're very happy with their DA and they would like to see me run again," he said. "I mean, I wouldn't be running again if people weren't stopping me at Wegmans and the JMA Wireless to home and walking down the street for lunch, and a lot of labor leaders have reached out to me about running."
Fitzpatrick said he’s received some lucrative job offers with the thought he was leaving. But he said none of them can compete with what he calls the best job in the world.
"I think of one of my heroes, Lou Gehrig. I mean, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth," he said. "I love helping people who have been victimized. I love making the concept of justice a reality. I love teaching other DAs. I love solving cold cases. The office has a national reputation. Certainly has a stellar statewide reputation."
Fitzpatrick served as special prosecutor in two high profile cases involving corrections officers at prisons in Oneida County. 10 corrections officers were indicted over their involvement in the beating death of prisoner Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility. Seven of the officers pleaded guilty, one was convicted of murder, and two others were acquitted.
He also served as prosecutor in the case of Messiah Nantwi, who was beaten by several corrections officers at the Mid-State Correctional Facility. In that case, 15 corrections officers were charged with various crimes. All 15 were convicted.
Fitzpatrick said he’d like to follow the appeals from those cases, noting the experience intensified his love for the job.
At this point, he doesn’t have much money raised for another re-election bid, but figures he needs $125,000 to run a competitive race.
"It's not my first ride, I'm not entitled to it, I'm gonna run like heck, I'm gonna run like I'm 20 points down and I hope I'm successful," he said
If elected for a 10th term, he would tie former Dutchess County District Attoeney William Grady as the longest serving DA in New York state history. Grady served for 40 years, from 1984 to the end of 2023.
