The campaign committee of the late Ken Thompson has donated nearly $630,000 since the Brooklyn district attorney died of cancer Oct. 9, 2016.
Chaired by his widow, Lu-Shawn Thompson, Ken Thompson for DA has doled out thousands to nonprofits and candidates, including $54,000 to his successor, Eric Gonzalez.
The Black Institute, the Innocence Project and the Apollo Theater each got $25,000. CUNY’s Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn and the Jack and Jill Foundation got $50,000 apiece.
Thompson said she oversees all the funding decisions.
“These are mostly organizations and causes that we supported before he died,” she said.
The Thompsons were involved with the Jack and Jill Foundation’s Brooklyn chapter, where the late DA was a Fathers Auxiliary member.
State election law requires campaign committees for deceased candidates to disperse their remaining funds within two years of the death. Otherwise, the cash goes to the chief enforcement counsel of the Board of Elections.
The money can be returned to donors or given to nonprofits, CUNY, SUNY, the state’s general fund, another candidate or a political committee.