Dan Conley's 16-year tenure (2002–2018)
Dan Conley, a career prosecutor, was elected district attorney in2002 and held the office for four terms. In2018 he chose not to run again and supported Michael Maloney, a longtime prosecutor, to succeed him.
Maloney lost the Democratic primary to Rachael Rollins, breaking the office's continuity.
Rollins left the office under a cloud in2022. Kevin Hayden, who had been a Conley chief of staff, was appointed and later elected to take over.
The sequence shows how rare it is for a Suffolk district attorney to lose once holding office. Hayden's primary win restored the elected line after Rollins's interruption.
