As indicated by early bouts after the primary, it's not going to be a polite runoff. For one thing, Lykos is accusing Rosenthal of absconding with about 90 percent of her ideas for his own race. Rosenthal, who scored 45 percent of the vote in the primary to Lykos' 19 percent, is stoically guarding his massive lead, even finding graciousness in triumph. District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr. Rosenthal got a big boost by cleaving to his boss and basking in the reflected glow of Holmes' tacit endorsement. Lykos predictably has another view.
Anecdotes abound in courthouse lore about the duo's more whimsical peccadilloes.
Lykos is a big fan of the late actor John Wayne. Rosenthal once wrote a song about a little blue truck. Slightly more sinister, Rosenthal in 1995 was suspended for a week without pay for setting off firecrackers in a stairwell. The incident, belatedly described by Rosenthal as an unfortunate prank, became a police matter because others in the building mistook it for gunfire. It's an episode that Rosenthal detractors use to highlight concerns about his temperament.