Kate Murray to announce run for Nassau DA seat next week, sources say

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray has invited village mayors, union leaders and other local officials to attend her announcement next week that she will run for Nassau County district attorney this fall, political sources said.

The announcement will occur at noon at the Levittown Fire Department headquarters the day before the Nassau Republican nominating convention names her as the GOP candidate for the job vacated by former District Attorney Kathleen Rice, a Democrat elected to Congress last year.

The location is a nod to Murray's base. She lives in Levittown, and Nassau GOP chairman Joseph Mondello is the longtime Levittown leader, though he now lives in Oyster Bay Cove.

A Murray town spokesman declined to comment. Greg Blower, spokesman for Murray's campaign committee "Friends for Kate Murray," acknowledged that she plans an announcement but declined to say what it will be about. "Stay tuned," he said.

Murray's term as supervisor is up at the end of the year. She can continue to serve while running for district attorney, but she can't run for both jobs. The leading Republican candidate to run for Hempstead supervisor is senior Town Board member Anthony Santino, currently the county party's spokesman.

Madeline Singas, a former Rice bureau chief who is serving as acting Nassau district attorney, is expected to be the Democratic nominee for the job.

"Kate Murray hasn't been in a courtroom in over 17 years and she's dangerously unqualified to be District Attorney," Singas spokesman Isaac Goldberg said in a statement. "Madeline Singas is a career prosecutor who has been putting criminals behind bars for 24 years. District Attorney is a job for a prosecutor, not a career politician, and Madeline Singas is the best qualified candidate to keep Nassau County safe."

Blower declined to comment on Goldberg's statement.