A statewide race in New York this year that is increasingly drawing as much attention as the race between Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee, is that for state attorney general.

"And that's because the incumbent is Tish James and her opponent is Saritha Komatireddy — a real prosecutor," said Gerard Kassar, chairman of the New York Conservative Party, which has given its Row C ballot line to former federal prosecutor and Republican nominee Komatireddy.

Letitia James, of course, is best known for filing a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump, with penalties and fines eventually totaling $400 million.

The appearance of the once-and-future president — whom James has called an "illegitimate" president in nationally televised proceedings — undoubtedly helped boost her standing as a political figure, although James abandoned her primary challenge to Hochul in 2022 and instead sought re-election as the Empire State's top law enforcement official.

"With Tish James it is all about her far-left agenda and nothing about prosecuting criminals — which is what I have done and what I'm good at," Komatireddy told Newsmax recently, noting that she worked as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York for 13 years after graduating from Harvard Law School and was also chief of staff to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The daughter of Indian immigrants and now a mother of four, Komatireddy was inspired to study law and enter the prosecutorial arena following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

She is also a former law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice-to-be Brett Kavanaugh and was herself nominated by President Trump to the U.S. District Court. Her nomination, however, was never taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate at the time.

Komatireddy vividly contrasts her background with the record of controversial incumbent James.

"Crime has gone up 26 percent statewide and 45 percent citywide alone," she told us. "And she has this policy of just not prosecuting many people who have committed crimes. So lawlessness is the new norm."

As an example of this, Komatireddy cited "$1 billion in fare evasion from the subways [overseen by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority] every year. This wouldn't happen if the transit laws were just enforced!"

And, as a result of the rise in crime and decline in prosecution, the Republican-Conservative nominee added, "one million New Yorkers left the state over the last five years."

For her part, Komatireddy has so far made her case in 41 of the state's 62 counties this summer and, in her words, "every county has a story on crime."

Just as the Republican hopeful carries the Conservative line, James carries the line of the left-wing Working Families Party on the state ballot.

"Think of [New York City Police Commissioner] Jessica Tisch," Komatireddy told us. "She's widely respected and apolitical. City residents are one resignation away from no longer feeling safe in New York. Think of me as a prosecutorial version of Commissioner Tisch."