Now that’s a sore winner.
Political newcomer Ken Thompson declined to take a concession phone call from Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes Tuesday night after he soundly defeated the 23-year incumbent.
Thompson cruised to an easy victory, capturing a 73-26 percent victory with 90 percent of the precincts counted but then showed a decided lack of grace in victory.
During his concession speech, Hynes told loyalists that he’d just called Thompson to congratulate him, but added the former federal prosecutor and civil attorney didn’t take the call because he was “apparently very, very busy.”
“But I left word with one of his campaign aides to arrange an orderly transition,” assured Hynes.
The bad blood may have stemmed from Hynes’ decision to actively campaign on the Republican line after losing to Thompson in September’s Democratic primary.
“I ran for Brooklyn DA because I love Brooklyn and I care about Brooklyn,” crowed Thompson during his gala victory party in Fort Greene.
“And I ran because of every innocent man and woman who has been convicted in our borough.”
Thompson wasted little time getting into the debate over the use of stop-and-frisk tactics, saying, “We have to make sure that stop-in-frisk in Brooklyn must be based on reasonable suspicion. And reasonable suspicion can’t mean a black man.”
After falling 55 percent to 45 percent to Thompson in September’s Democratic primary, Hynes at first planned to gracefully hand over his seat.
However, he changed his mind and began actively campaigning on the Republican and Conservative lines after The Post reported that corrupt former Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Clarence Norman played a key role in his primary defeat.
The decision to cross party lines didn’t sit well with many Brooklyn Democratic party leaders — even longtime Hynes loyalists — who stepped up their efforts to get Thompson elected as the borough’s first black DA.
Asked Tuesday night whether he regretted running as a Republican, Hynes replied, “Not at all.”
As for Norman, he didn’t actively campaign for Thompson during the general election, and he was nowhere to be found during Thompson’s victory party — unlike primary night when he told The Post at the winner’s bash, “God said it was finally time that justice should be served in Brooklyn.”
Hynes had sent Norman to prison in 2007 after getting a conviction against the former assemblyman and power broker on public corruption charges that included selling judgeships.
Norman, who was paroled in 2011, rallied heavily for support of Thompson in central Brooklyn during the primary in part because of his hatred for Hynes, sources said.
Thompson, however, repeatedly denied any connection between himself and Norman.
Among those who came to support Thompson at his victory party Tuesday were “Sex and the City” and “The Good Wife” actor Chris Noth.
“Ken’s a good man,” North said. “He’s going to bring fresh, new energy for Brooklyn. Manhattan has become unliveable. It’s like living in Dubai.”
During the DA race, Thompson criticized Hynes for what his campaign called “a record of wrongful convictions, questions of prosecutorial misconduct, silence on stop-and-frisk and refusal to investigate [disgraced ex-Assemblyman] Vito Lopez.”
Hynes campaigned on the huge drop in crime in Brooklyn since he took office, as well as on his popular social programs.
The longtime DA had been criticized for going soft on sexual-abuse prosecutions against Orthodox Jews, a group that has strongly supported him in past years.
But Hynes won two big cases against Orthodox abusers this year, including one that resulted in a 103-year prison sentence for prominent counselor Nechemya Weberman.
“I’m sad to see Hynes go,” said one Brooklyn assistant district attorney. “I think he did a strong job prosecuting violent crime in Brooklyn.”
However, another Brooklyn assistant district attorney said Hynes can’ t leave office fast enough.
“Hynes wanted a referendum on his tenure and tonight he got one,” the ADA said.
Additional reporting by Adam Janos and Josh Saul