Republican New York Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy has emerged as a high-profile challenger to incumbent Democrat Letitia James after President Donald Trump endorsed her campaign, bringing renewed attention to the Indian-American lawyer’s career, family background and political rise.
The endorsement adds another layer to a race shaped by the long-running political battle between Trump and James. James’ office pursued a civil fraud case against Trump and his company, while the Trump administration’s Justice Department later brought a mortgage-fraud case against James that was dismissed. She has spent more than a decade in federal law enforcement and is now a partner at the law firm Holtzman Vogel. NY1 has described her as a former federal prosecutor with more than a decade of experience in the Eastern District of New York.
Komatireddy, 41, is a former federal prosecutor, lawyer and Republican candidate for New York attorney general.
Komatireddy thanked Trump for the endorsement and said she was ready to take on James. She was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Missouri, according to profiles of her career.
Her legal career includes work on terrorism, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, money laundering, fraud and foreign public corruption cases. She also served as chief of staff of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The New York Republican Party says she prosecuted cases involving Al Qaeda, ISIS and Mexican drug cartels while working as a federal prosecutor.
