A look at the candidates for top prosecutor

Joe Kimok joined the race to become Broward’s top prosecutor before it was in fashion, a David with his sights set on defeating the county’s ultimate political Goliath: Mike Satz, who has been Broward State Attorney longer than Kimok has been alive.

But a year ago, Satz, 77, still spry, fit and in command both behind the scenes and in front of a jury, decided the current term would be his last, touching off a flurry of activity among lawyers looking to fill a seat that has not been vacant since before the Jimmy Carter presidency.

Today, Kimok, 38, is one of eight Democrats seeking to succeed Satz. Opponents include three current assistant state attorneys, four former prosecutors now doing defense work, and one defense lawyer looking to bring his political experience as a city commissioner to the courthouse.

Conventional wisdom gives the winner of the Aug. 18 primary a distinct advantage in November. Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one, with independents and third-party voters making up 29 percent of the electorate. But the Democratic

nominee will be facing a formidable challenger, at least on paper.

In addition to prosecutor Sheila Alu, who is running as an independent, the Democratic nominee will face Republican Gregg Rossman, a veteran prosecutor with a history of sending some of the county’s most notorious killers to prison. Rossman says he’s in the race to win, with a message painting the office as a partner of law enforcement and an advocate for victims, not a platform for criminal justice reform.

In public forum after forum, reform has dominated the Democratic side of the campaign for months, as each candidate looks to break out from the crowded pack.

Last week, Kimok picked up the endorsement of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who praised the candidate as a progressive who will “dismantle a criminal justice system that criminalizes poverty, perpetuates institutional racism, and continues a failed war on drugs that has devastated communities of color.”

Kimok is the most vocal candidate pledging to stop the office from seeking the death penalty — the others have recognized it as a part of Florida law that they will swear to uphold if the case warrants it.

Kimok’s opponents say dismantling the system is a job for legislators, not for the head of a prosecutor’s office.

Sarahnell Murphy, a 25-year veteran prosecutor, has been part of the career criminal unit and has led both the domestic violence unit and the traffic and misdemeanor county court division, which give her bragging rights about both administrative experience and reform credentials — she started a diversion program for first-time domestic violence offenders to give them a chance to clean up their act instead of facing prison and life with a criminal record.

Murphy’s endorsements include Satz, dozens of prosecutors and defense lawyers, and Hispanic Vote.

Of the candidates, Coconut Creek City Commissioner Joshua Rydell is the only one who’s never been a prosecutor. His slew of endorsements come largely from the political arena — mayors and commissioners from Parkland to Hollywood, along with the state’s highest ranking Democrat, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

Like Kimok, Rydell has promised to use the office to end cash bail and direct drug offenders to treatment programs instead of prison cells.

Former prosecutor Harold Pryor has the support of numerous Black attorneys and advocacy groups. If elected, Pryor would be the county’s first Black state attorney. County Mayor Dale V.C. Holness and former Florida Bar President Eugene Pettis are among his supporters.

But Pryor isn’t the only Black candidate in the race — Assistant State Attorney David Cannady, who joined the office in 2015, is also making a bid for the position, promising “generational change” and comparing his prior experience to Satz’s in 1976. Satz was 33 and practicing for nine years when he first ran. Cannady is 35 and has been practicing for six.

Rounding out the candidates are: prosecutor Justin McCormack, who stresses his work prosecuting rogue cops as evidence that he can take on law enforcement in a job that requires cooperation with police; Teresa Fanning-Williams, who gave Satz the closest electoral challenge of his career four years ago; and James “Jimmy Stewart” Lewis, one of the few Democratic candidates shunning most talk of reform in favor of incarcerating lawbreakers — though he has favored diversion programs for drug addicts seeking treatment and non-violent youthful offenders.