Dems to decide DA race this Tuesday
Seven candidates seek to succeed the late Richard Brown as Queens’ top prosecutor
Left to right: Greg Lasak, Tiffany Cabán, Mina Malik, Rory Lancman, Melinda Katz, Jose Nieves and Betty Lugo QNS File Photos
BY BILL PARRY
Queens residents will
head to the polls Tuesday,
June 25, to take the first step
in electing a new district
attorney for the first time in
nearly three decades.
The Democratic primary
has turned into a wild
free-for-all among seven
candidates looking to
succeed the late Richard
A. Brown, who served as
Queens district attorney
from 1991 until his death
in May of this year from
complications of Parkinson’s
disease, just months after
he announced he would not
seek re-election last year.
The seven candidates
range from veterans of the
political scene to first-time
candidates, from left-wing
reformers to moderate
liberals. Each candidate has
their vision for reforming,
in varying degrees, the
Queens district attorney’s
office and its pursuit
of justice for the
borough’s residents.
In an off-election year,
this primary has become
the most exciting and
watched political race in
the city this year, but only
Queens voters will make the
final choice when the polls
open this Tuesday. Voting
sites will open from 6 a.m.
to 9 p.m. The primary is
open to registered
Democratic voters.
The winner of Tuesday’s
primary will be the
prohibitive favorite to
win the DA’s race in the
November general election.
Republicans do not have a
district attorney primary
this Tuesday because
they already have their
presumptive nominee:
Ozone Park attorney Daniel
Kogan.
Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz
of Forest Hills has
been the front-running
establishment candidate
in the field thanks to her
26 years of public service
at Borough Hall, the City
Council and the State
Assembly. Katz is the top
fundraiser and drew support
from Governor Andrew
Cuomo and the city’s four
largest unions, the Queens
County Democratic Party,
Planned Parenthood and
the United Federation of
Teachers and while she has
no prosecutorial experience
in the courtroom.
Public defender Tiffany
Cabán of Astoria has made
a late charge after picking
up the endorsement of
Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, who stunned
the Queens political class a
year ago when she defeated
party boss Joe Crowley in
the Democratic primary
denying him a chance to
run for an 11th term in the
House of Representatives.
Cabán was also endorsed
recently by reform-minded
progressive District
Attorney Larry Krasner of
Philadelphia, the Working
Families Party and both the
city and national chapters
of the Democratic Socialists
of America.
Following her interview
with the Queens County
Bar Association, Cabán was
rated not approved.
Former state Supreme
Court Justice Greg Lasak
was the only candidate
to rate a “well qualified”
after his interview with
the Queens County Bar.
Lasak has based his entire
campaign based on his 25
years as a prosecutor in the
Queens DA’s office where
as Executive Assistant
District Attorney he
oversaw more than 2,500
homicide investigations.
He retired from the bench
last year in order to run for
district attorney.
Born and raised in
Woodside, Lasak moved
to Richmond Hill to raise
his family. He swept
the endorsement of law
enforcement unions and is
favored by the judiciary,
according to sources.
City Councilman Rory
Lancman chairs the
Committee on the Justice
System, overseeing the
district attorneys in all
five boroughs, the Mayor’s
Office of Criminal Justice,
the City’s special narcotics
prosecutor, the public
defender organizations, the
civil legal services providers
funded by the City, and the
courts. Raised in Flushing,
Lancman lives in Fresh
Meadows. He has not worked
as a prosecutor or criminal
defense attorney.
Mina Malik is a former
ADA in the Queens District
Attorney’s office who went
on to serve as executive
director of the city’s
Civilian Complaint Review
Board, a special counsel
to the Brooklyn DA and
recently as a Harvard Law
School lecturer. The Forest
Hills resident has put our
several policy papers in
recent weeks showing her
organization skills should
she win.
Jose Nieves of Queens
Village is an Army combat
veteran in Afghanistan and
a former special prosecutor
in the state Attorney
General’s office appears to
be a longshot in the field
as does Maspeth resident
Betty Lugo, a former Nassau
County assistant district
attorney who went into
private practice.
To find your polling
site location visit nyc.
pollsitelocator.com.
4 TIMESLEDGER, JUNE 21-27, 2019 QNS.COM
/pollsitelocator.com
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