James defeats Komatireddy in NY AG race; leads 65.1% to 32.8%

“My heart is full tonight. This victory belongs to each and every one of you,” Letitia James told a gathering of Democrats in Manhattan around 10 p.m. Tuesday, declaring victory over Republican challenger Saritha Komatireddy in the race for the state’s top law enforcement post. “New Yorkers spoke loud and clear: they want Tish James to finish the job.”

The Times Union reported that James led Komatireddy 65.1% to 32.8% with more than half of precincts reporting, according to the state Board of Elections. A Komatireddy campaign spokesman declined to comment on James’s declaration.

Trump’s shadow loomed over the contest

The result delivers a blow to President Donald J. Trump, who endorsed Komatireddy in August and had been eager to unseat the Democratic incumbent. James has pursued legal cases against Trump for years, including a 2023 civil fraud lawsuit that resulted in a roughly $500 million penalty before an appellate court threw out the monetary judgment. The state Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in that case next year.

Trump has publicly urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate James. In October 2025, a federal grand jury indicted James on charges of bank fraud and making false statements regarding a 2020 home purchase in Norfolk, Va. She pleaded not guilty, and the charges were subsequently dismissed by a federal judge who ruled the prosecutor had not been lawfully appointed.

Komatireddy’s public safety pitch fell short

Komatireddy, 42, a former federal prosecutor, accused James of letting politics guide the office’s priorities. She focused her campaign on New Yorkers’ public safety concerns, including street crime, retail theft and random acts of violence involving mentally unstable homeless people. Major crimes in New York City have remained elevated after a pandemic-era spike, though they fell elsewhere in the state between 2024 and 2025, according to official data.

Critics said Komatireddy’s focus was misplaced because street crime and retail theft typically fall under local law enforcement jurisdiction rather than the state attorney general’s office. James also accused her challenger of being beholden to Trump, a claim Komatireddy rejected. The Republican often avoided touting the president’s endorsement, sometimes appearing reluctant to even mention Trump by name in a state where more than twice as many voters are enrolled Democrats as Republicans.

Letitia James vs. Saritha Komatireddy: 2 different visions for NY

Questions of impartiality resurfaced late

James faced renewed questions about her impartiality in recent weeks after she was appointed as a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged sexual assault of a Cornell University student. Days before her appointment, James had made a social media post in support of the female student, identified in court records as Jane Doe, who accused seven male students of sexually assaulting her two years ago at a fraternity house. Each of the men has denied wrongdoing and none has been charged, though several were suspended or expelled.

James told the Times Union that the post was meant as a show of “empathy,” not as a legal argument. Separately, the Times Union reported in August that a veteran prosecutor in her office, former Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld, sent an email to more than 2,000 colleagues claiming he had been instructed inappropriately by his supervisor “to find and pursue crimes committed by specific individuals and organizations affiliated with Donald Trump.” The email was swiftly deleted from state servers, and Wiesenfeld was placed on administrative leave before being terminated early last month. James told the Times Union last month that there was “no there,” and her office released copies of Wiesenfeld’s personnel files, which included recent concerns from supervisors about his work performance.

A third term in a deeply Democratic state

James’s victory extends Democratic control of the attorney general’s office, which the party has held continuously since 1994. Throughout the race, polls showed James with a double-digit lead. Komatireddy’s late surge in donations, sparked by a punchy debate performance last month, helped her fund television ads in the closing weeks, but the cash could not overcome the state’s partisan demographics.

Letitia James, 68, said during her campaign that she has used antitrust laws against large corporations and protected New Yorkers’ civil rights.