Exclusive | Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg faces re-election challenge from Republican Maud Maron

Maud Maron, a former Legal Aid attorney, is seeking the Republican Party nod next year to challenge the re-election of controversial Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Maron, a 53-year-old mother of four public school kids, ran for Congress as a Democrat just two years ago.

But she left the Democratic Party, first changing her registration to independent and then re-enrolling as a Republican in October 2023.

Maud Maron said she would curb crime by prosecuting criminals regardless of immigration status and would repeal DA Alvin Bragg’s (pictured) infamous “Day One memo” Steven Hirsch

A parent member of District 2’s Community Education Council, Maron became a lightning rod after calling for the Department of Education to conduct a public review of its policy allowing trans girls to compete against biological females in sports.

The Soho resident said her campaign is about restoring justice and safety in the city for law-abiding citizens.

“Just over the past few days, there were three stabbings across Manhattan. As a criminal defense lawyer I advocated for my clients and Manhattan needs an advocate now more than ever,” Maron told The Post.

“Our communities need someone who will fight for everyone. From school children to seniors and underserved communities to small business owners, all of us deserve a safe and prosperous New York City. Most of us can remember living in a much safer city and we want that city back.”

Maron said she would curb crime by prosecuting criminals regardless of immigration status and would repeal Bragg’s infamous “Day One memo” to assistant DAs which declared he would not prosecute resisting arrest and would treat major felonies such as robbery as misdemeanors.

She also said she would create a special unit to assist the NYPD with homeless issues and remove violent emotionally disturbed people from the streets.

Maron, a former Legal Aid attorney, is seeking the Republican Party nod next year to challenge the re-election of controversial Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. ZUMAPRESS.com

Elsewhere, Maron said she would utilize all available mental health resources, including the law to detain, stabilize and provide mental health services to mentally unstable individuals who are a danger to themselves and others.

In addition, she would set up a special DA’s unit for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), “which remains underserved,” and hire more rackets investigators and detectives, the former attorney said.

More broadly, Maron would push for Albany to repeal or rework New York’s “disastrous” cashless bail reform, revoke the “raise the age” law that lets teens off the hook for certain crimes, and tighten parole policy, she said.

She also would urge lawmakers to undo the worst of the De Blasio-era policies, particularly the plan to close Rikers Island and build community-based jails, “which will make our neighborhoods even more dangerous,” the mom and education council board member said.

Maron served as a public defender in Manhattan and the Bronx for over 20 years from 1998 to 2019. At the Legal Aid Society, she served as a trial Attorney, working her way up to senior trial attorney and Director of Training.

She also worked as a law professor at Cardozo Law School’s Criminal Defense Clinic.

Maron is an elected member, and past president, of Community Education Council District 2.

She’s been a fierce advocate for rigorous standards and merit-based policies on the education district board.

Maron co-founded PLACE NYC, a parent-volunteer organization that successfully campaigned to preserve New York City’s specialized high school entrance exams to enroll at schools like Stuyvesant, The Bronx HS of Science and Brooklyn Tech.

A lifelong Democrat, Maron said she abandoned the party because of concerns about censorship and a focus on “woke” policies that she says harm children, such as allowing biological males who identify as transgender girls to compete in sports and biological girls. 

Maron became a lightning rod after calling for the Department of Education to conduct a public review of its policy allowing trans girls to compete against biological females in sports. William C Lopez/New York Post

She was booted off the District 2 parent council for calling out anti-semitism in schools, refused to apologize for doing the right thing, and was reinstated by a federal judge in a major First Amendment win.

Maron has a daunting task in liberal Manhattan. Republican President-elect Donald Trump made impressive gains in other boroughs, but only carried one election district in all of New York County.

Still, Maron has support.

“We need someone in the DA’s office that understands our communities, and knows that homeless, emotionally unstable people need to be off the streets,” said Maria Danzilo, Upper West Side community leader and founder of One City Rising.

“Maud has the compassion of a public defender and the guts of a tough-on-crime prosecutor, and knows what it will take to serve all New Yorkers and clean up New York City.”

Bragg, 51, a former federal prosecutor, does not face a Democratic primary.