Former legal aid attorney Maud Maron is seeking Republican endorsement next year to challenge controversial Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's reelection bid.
Maron, 53, a mother of four public school children, ran for Congress as a Democrat just two years ago.
But she left the Democratic Party, first changing her registration to independent and then re-registering as a Republican in October 2023.
Maron, a parent member of the District 2 Regional Education Council, called on the Department of Education to publicly reconsider its policy allowing transgender girls to compete in sports with biological females; It became a lightning rod.
The Soho resident said her campaign is about restoring justice and safety to the city for law-abiding citizens.
“In the past few days, there have been three stabbings across Manhattan. As a criminal defense attorney, I have represented clients, and Manhattan needs attorneys more than ever.” Maron told the Post.
“We need people in our communities to fight for everyone. From children in our schools to seniors, from underserved communities to small business owners, we all We deserve a safe and prosperous New York City. Most of us remember living in a safer city and would like to see it return.”
Mr. Maron criticized Mr. Bragg's assistant prosecutors for declaring that they would curb crime by prosecuting criminals regardless of their immigration status, not prosecuting people who resist arrest, and treating felonies such as robbery as misdemeanors. He said the infamous “first day memo” would be abolished.
She also said she would create a task force to assist the NYPD with homelessness and remove violent and mentally unstable people from the streets.
Elsewhere, Mr. Maron said he would utilize all available mental health resources, including laws, to restrain, stabilize, and provide mental health services to mentally unstable individuals who are a danger to themselves or others. Then he said.
He also plans to create a special prosecution unit at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), which “remains underserved,” and hire more racketeering investigators and detectives, the former attorney said.
More broadly, Maron called on Albany to repeal or overhaul New York City's “disastrous” cashless bail reform, repeal “raise the age” laws that exempt teens from certain crimes, and parole policy. He said he would call for stricter regulations.
She will also call on lawmakers to reverse the worst policies of the de Blasio era, particularly plans to close Rikers Island and build community-based prisons, which “will make our neighborhoods even more dangerous.” “I guess so,” said the mother and school board member. .
Maron served as a public defender in Manhattan and the Bronx for more than 20 years, from 1998 to 2019. At the Legal Aid Society, he served as a trial attorney and rose to senior trial attorney and director of training.
She also worked as a law professor at Cardozo School of Law's Criminal Defense Clinic.
Maron is a District 2 member and past president of the Community Education Council.
She has passionately advocated for rigorous standards and merit-based policies on school district boards.
Maron co-founded PLACE NYC, a parent volunteer organization that led a successful campaign to save New York City's specialized high school entrance exams for admission to schools such as Stuyvesant, Bronx High School of Science, and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.
Maron, a lifelong Democrat, expressed concerns about censorship and “wokeness” policies that harm children, such as allowing biological males who identify as transgender girls to compete in sports and biological girls to participate. He said he abandoned the party because he focused on
She was removed from the District 2 Parent Council for criticizing anti-Semitism at school and refused to apologize for doing the right thing, but was reinstated by a federal judge in a major First Amendment victory. did.
Maron has a difficult task in liberal Manhattan. Republican President-elect Donald Trump won only one precinct in all of New York County, although he achieved impressive victories in other boroughs.
Even so, Maron supports me.
“We need someone in the DA’s office who understands our community and understands that homeless and emotionally unstable people need to be off the streets,” said Upper West Side community leader and , said Maria D'Anzillo, founder of One City Rising.
“Maude has the compassion of a public defender and the guts of a tough-on-crime prosecutor, and she knows what it takes to serve all New Yorkers and clean up New York City.”
Mr. Bragg, 51, a former federal prosecutor, does not plan to run in the Democratic primary.
