Jack McCoy for Mayor in Law and Order

Manhattan DA Arthur Branch isn't the only New York City prosecutor setting his sites on higher office. Last week Branch officially announced his run for president. In a stunning move Executive District Attorney Jack McCoy announced he would run for mayor of New York City following Mayor Michael Bloomberg's final term. McCoy had tendered his resignation after being pulled off a case. Branch dissuaded him from resigning and McCoy was promoted to D.A.

McCoy was appointed Executive Assistant District Attorney in 1994 by former DA Adam Schiff. He quickly establishes himself as a more unconventional, ruthless litigator than his predecessor, Ben Stone. Unlike Stone, he embraces the option of the death penalty, claiming it is a suitable punishment for particularly heinous crimes and a useful threat in plea bargaining. This often led to heated arguments with his more liberal colleagues.

McCoy has been accused of bending trial rules to get convictions. In the 1998 he was brought before the Disciplinary Committee of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division on misconduct charges stemming from a case in which he hid a material witness from the opposing counsel to win a case. He was eventually exonerated.

In 2006, after the brutal murder of his assistant Alexandra Borgia, he pushed the envelope even further when he arranges to present a sham prosecution to intimidate a corrupt DEA agent to turn evidence against her murderers. The severely unorthodox strategies used in the case led to the New York State Governor Pataki ordering McCoy removed from the case.

He is know throughout the city for his tenuous rationales for charging defendants with crimes, and passionate closing arguments. His sometimes aggressive actions in the courts have earned him the nickname "Hang 'em High" McCoy. McCoy has subsequently developed a reputation with both colleagues and rival attorneys, once being referred to as "the top of the legal food chain" by a rival attorney during a case.

McCoy possesses more than a few personal demons. He was abused by his father, a Chicago "Irish cop" who also beat his mother, and who eventually died of cancer. He rejected his Catholic faith as a child after his best friend's death.

A notorious womanizer, McCoy divorced his ex-wife and has had sexual relationships with several female assistants. This has often blown up in his face, however: one such assistant, Diana Hawthorne, was found to have suppressed evidence so they could win a case (unbeknownst to McCoy, and to his horror upon finding out). He also has an adult daughter, Rebecca, who he has reportedly not seen or spoken to since 1997. His campaign manager, Robert Meeker, doesn't feel McCoy's personal life will out shadow his professional accomplishment.

McCoy has never run or expressed desire to run for public office until now, however his desire and will to stick it out though what could be a tough campaign given his professional and personal history can be summed up best by McCoy himself. During a press conference after a particularly difficult case, he told reporters, "Justice is a by-product of winning." So far he has been endorsed by Mayor Bloomberg, The NYC PBA and former bosses Schiff and Branch.