Bratton flexes his political muscle in New York

It is one of the truest truisms in local politics: Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton gets you votes. With higher approval ratings than most elected officials, an endorsement from Bratton come campaign time is worth its weight in gold.

Now the chief is throwing his weight around on both coasts. Wednesday, Bratton endorsed his old friend, Richard Aborn, in his run for Manhattan district attorney. The New York press is calling the nod a significant boon for the "dark horse" candidate.

Indeed, even though Bratton has called Los Angeles home for the last seven years, Gothamites still have a love affair with him from his stint as head of the New York Police Department in the mid-1990s, and he is certain to draw some attention to Aborn.

Aborn and Bratton go back nearly two decades, having worked together on helping to shape the Brady gun control bill. More recently, Aborn was an integral member of the kitchen Cabinet of advisors Bratton leaned on heavily when he took the job in L.A., and he served on a special board of inquiry that Bratton convened to examine the LAPD's SWAT unit.

On the conference call he held to announce the endorsement, Bratton gave the New York press corps a savory treat when he acknowledged that he and his wife were married by one of the other candidates in the race, former Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder.

--Joel Rubin

Photo: Los Angeles Times