GOP Candidate Aims for Schneiderman’s Former Job
Lawyer Manny Alicandro, who is seeking the New York attorney general position, tells jokes, loves bitcoin
Republican Manny Alicandro was left alone in the run for attorney general, when Eric Schneiderman resigned on Monday. PHOTO: MICHAEL BUCHER/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Manny Alicandro, a Wall Street lawyer and former stand-up comedian, was munching on salad at an Amsterdam, N.Y., steakhouse Monday when he learned that state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had been accused of physical abuse by four women in a New Yorker article.
Mr. Schneiderman resigned hours later, leaving the race for one of the most powerful government positions in New York wide open.
“My jaw dropped,” said Mr. Alicandro, a 49-year-old Republican and political novice. He had only announced his candidacy that morning, officially declaring his intent to run at a sparsely attended event on the steps of Wall Street’s Federal Hall.
Mr. Schneiderman, a standard-bearer for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party who many considered a potential future governor, denied the abuse allegations but said they would prevent him from doing his job.
Mr. Schneiderman was the heavy favorite and presumptive party nominee until the abuse article broke.
Since his resignation, several Democrats have expressed interest in running, and Mr. Alicandro now has competition on the Republican side. Rockland County Attorney Thomas Humbach said Wednesday he would run for the GOP nomination, and Republican officials are considering other potential candidates.
Mr. Alicandro, a divorced father of two and bitcoin enthusiast, is a long shot in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by more than 2 to 1. Mr. Alicandro also is a proud supporter of President Donald Trump, running in an election when Democrats have been energized by their disapproval of the president.
“Long shots win,” Manny Alicandro said. “Trump was a long shot, and he won.” PHOTO: MICHAEL BUCHER/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“I think a lot of Republicans in New York have given up,” Mr. Alicandro said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last week.
A New York native, Mr. Alicandro has spent much of his career dealing with the arcane regulations that control the plumbing of the U.S. stock market.
While employed at Nasdaq Inc. from 2003 to 2014, he enrolled as a part-time student at New York Law School, earning his law degree in 2012. After leaving the exchange, he worked as a lawyer for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and quantitative hedge fund MANA Partners LLC, among other firms.
His stand-up career in the mid-2000s was brief, although Mr. Alicandro still maintains he could have made it professionally if he had spent the time needed to perfect his act. Mr. Alicandro said he took a class at Carolines School of Comedy and performed gigs at “smelly, dark places” where bookers would give him five minutes on stage in exchange for bringing his friends and co-workers as guests.
Mr. Alicandro said he expects his campaign to highlight an issue that has not yet played much of a role in U.S. elections: the regulation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
He is an adviser to several startups focused on blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin, which is seen by its promoters as having broad applications in finance and other sectors. Mr. Alicandro is also a small-time investor in bitcoin and several other digital currencies.
Many bitcoin entrepreneurs regard New York as a difficult place to do business, due to the hurdles needed to obtain a “BitLicense,” a state regulatory regime introduced in 2015. Mr. Alicandro said he’d like to see lighter rules for cryptocurrency businesses, arguing that BitLicense is hurting jobs and stifling innovation.
Some say that could win him a measure of support from New York’s bitcoin community. “His pro-crypto stance could have the potential to help fuel his underdog race,” Nick Spanos, founder of Bitcoin Center NYC, said in an email.
Mr. Alicandro said he got into cryptocurrencies after attending a gathering at Bitcoin Center NYC in 2015, where he was older than most other attendees and the only one dressed in a suit and tie. He is in the process of determining whether it is permissible for his campaign to accept donations in bitcoin, he added.
Mr. Alicandro acknowledges the steep odds against him, but he thinks he has a realistic chance to become attorney general. “Long shots win,” he said. “Trump was a long shot, and he won.”
—Mike Vilensky contributed to this article.
Write to Alexander Osipovich at alexander.osipovich@dowjones.com
