Kenneth Thompson: Could he become the first black district attorney of Brooklyn?

Former federal prosecutor Kenneth Thompson pulled off an upset earlier this month when he defeated a six-term incumbent to become the district attorney of New York City’s largest borough.

In the days leading up to the Sept 10 primary, Thompson was locked in a two-man race against Republican Charles J. Hynes, who’d already secured his place on the ballot in the general election. Thompson won 55 percent of the vote the night of the primary. Rather than continue to campaign until November, Hynes announced he would drop out of the race, leaving Thompson as the last man standing.

 The race isn’t quite over for Thompson, however. Despite conceding the race, as a formality, his opponent’s name will still appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. Thompson is still engaged in get-out-the-vote efforts to ensure his supporters also show up on Election Day and cast a vote in his favor.

If that support holds, he’ll push aside more than 100 years over history, marking the first time a challenger defeated a sitting DA in Brooklyn since 1911 and making Thompson the first black district attorney in Brooklyn, a jurisdiction that is nearly 36 percent black.

Read more at theGrio.com.