Election Night: Snyder to Supporters -- I'm Out of Politics and Off to China!

Leslie Crocker Snyder entered what could have been her victory party in the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel at 10:42 p.m. to cries of "We Love You, Leslie." Looking worn-out, she went to a podium to make her speech. After thanking supporters, her husband, her grandchildren, her law firm colleagues, and an old friend and former law clerk named Theresa, she made some light-hearted outgoing remarks:

1.) She had lost ten pounds on the campaign trail, something she was happy about, though she wouldn't recommend a campaign trail diet.

2.) She had already made a phone call of congratulation to Cy Vance, who she said, in an unconvincing tone of voice, would do a good job.

3.) She'd had fun during the campaign with Richard Aborn and what she referred to as his "paradigm" (we think that she meant his stance as a gun control advocate).

4.) She was officially saying bye-bye to politics and going to veg out in China!

Many of Snyder's supporters were women, and/or people who came from the legal and law enforcement communities. They were crushed. Tom Ruskin, a private investigator who used to guard Snyder from the murderers and mafia types whom she prosecuted as a judge, said he was surprised she got so few votes this time around. (Crocker Snyder received just under 30 percent of the vote.) "When she was a judge, you'd hear defendants walk into the courtroom and say 'Oh God, I've got Crocker Snyder!' he said admiringly.

Theresa, the former law clerk, looked emotional when Snyder pointed her out among the crowd. "She gave me my first job. She's like a mother to me."