THE ROAD TO VICTORY

Harvey Dent's overwhelming victory in the Gotham District Attorney's race shocked political insiders - and showed how Gotham supporters salvaged his campaign at a moment where Dent looked politically dead.

When Dent announced his campaign, he was almost immediately hit by devastating charges of corruption and prosecutorial malfeasance. The group "Concerned Citizens for a Better Gotham" released television attack ads using Gotham cops to paint Dent as a man prosecuting innocent cops in an attempt to gain political power.

"Those charges were incendiary," said longtime political observer Walt DeFabrizio. "At the time, I thought there was no way Dent could recover."

But Dent did recover - with the help of his grassroots supporters. Thousands began to investigate the shadowy group behind the attacks. This grassroots investigation uncovered ties between the group and mob associates. Tipped off by Dent's supporters, GPD's Internal Affairs Division initiated a probe into the conduct of several police officers involved in the attack ads.

Ensnared in the tug of war between the mob and the Internal Affairs investigation was GPD Officer Frank Notaro. Notaro, who appeared in an attack ad against Dent, began to cooperate with Internal Affairs but grew frightened when his partner and his family was killed in a car bombing.

Notaro traveled to reputed organized crime hangout Rossi's Deli to confront mob associates in an incident that turned into a hostage situation. It was there that Dent seemed to become an unstoppable force in Gotham.

When Dent exchanged himself for the hostage held by a police officer who had taken part in the bogus smear campaign, Dent earned himself the title "The White Knight of Gotham." A huge shift in the electorate seemed to occur overnight. Dent took the lead in polls, and never gave it up until his huge victory on election day.