A statewide association of district attorneys voted Cy Vance to be the group’s president-elect, a vote of confidence for the freshman prosecutor who is coming under criticism for his handling of some high profile cases recently.

At the conference for the New York State Association of District Attorneys, the group elected Janet DiFiore of Westchester to be their president, and Cy Vance to be the president after her. (The group votes for its president-elect two years in advance).

Vance has been in office for about 18 months, and has battled against the perception that he’s not living up to his predecessor’s reputation (that would be the living legend Robert Morgenthau, who held the office for nearly three decades). The Dominique Strauss-Kahn case is unraveling after questions were raised about the plaintiff’s credibility; two NYPD officers were cleared of rape charges against a drunk woman whose apartment they repeatedly entered — and lied about — in 2008; and the third defendant in the Deutsche Bank fire was cleared of wrongdoing.

But supporters point to more nuanced facets of Vance’s tenure to bolster their claim that he is handling a difficult job admirably. In the DSK case, it was Vance’s office, not the defendant’s investigators, who uncovered information that weakened the accuser’s credibility. The NYPD officers were cleared of rape, but found guilty of lesser charges and immediately dismissed from the force. And the Deutsche Bank prosecution began under Morgenthau, and was, Vance supporters say, never seen as an easy case to make.

Today’s election, in the words of one Vance supporter, was a “huge” vote of confidence from fellow district attorneys.

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