QUEENS DA PRIMARY
Cabán sees victory, Katz wants count
Razor-thin margin between top two in primary; 3,400 paper ballots to be tallied
BY JENNA BAGCAL, MARK
HALLUM AND ROBERT
POZARYCKI
About 1,100 votes separates
public defender Tiffany Cabán
and Borough President
Melinda Katz in Tuesday’s
Democratic primary for
Queens district attorney, and
the race remained too close
to call as the TimesLedger
went to press Wednesday
afternoon.
With nearly all of the
scanners counted, Cabán
clung to a narrow lead as of
11 p.m. Tuesday night. It was
enough for the public defender
to declare victory before a
packed house of supporters at
Woodside’s La Boom.
In Forest Hills, however,
Katz declined to concede,
telling supporters at her party
that she would wait until all
the votes are counted. NY1
reported that there are about
3,400 paper ballots, including
absentee and affidavit ballots,
to be considered, and the
counting won’t begin until
Wednesday, July 3.
Seven Democrats sought
to succeed the late Queens
District Attorney Richard
A. Brown and were on the
June 25 ballot in the first
meaningful race for this office
in nearly three decades. The
primary winner moves on to
the November general election
and will be the prohibitive
favorite to win in this heavily-
Democratic borough.
The candidates included
Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz; public defender
Tiffany Cabán; retired Judge
Gregory Lasak; former
Civilian Complaint Review
Board Chair Mina Malik;
and attorneys Betty Lugo and
Jose Nieves. City Councilman
Rory Lancman was on the
ballot even though he formally
dropped out of the race on June
21 and endorsed Katz.
The primary election held
on June 25 was marred by low
turnout early, according to
reports from reporters who
visited polling stations during
the morning morning. The
weather improved during the
afternoon around Queens,
and that may have increased
participation in the waning
hours of the election.
‘We did it, y’all’
The 2018 victory of
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is
still reverberating through
Queens with no example more
clear than Tiffany Cabán
prevailing at the polls in
Tuesday’s primary for district
attorney.
If the 31-year-old queer
Latina can replicate her
success in the general election,
she will be the first new DA in
the borough in over 28 years,
succeeding the late Richard A.
Brown.
The majority of the precincts
Tiffany Caban declared victory in the Queens DA primary on June 25. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
had reported 39.6 of votes in
favor as Cabán celebrated with
a mass of supporters, including
prominent elected officials,
at LaBoom in Woodside. Her
margin, however, is slim. She’s
up about 1,200 votes on Queens
Borough President Melinda
Katz, who declined to concede
and is opting to wait until all
the paper ballots are counted.
”We built a campaign that
said every community deserves
justice,” Cabán said in front of
her crowd of supporters at La
Boom in Woodside. “We did it,
y’all.”
A public defender only
seven years out of law school,
Cabán faced doubt as to her
ability to lead an office of
over 600 staff members. But
along the campaign trail,
she garnered high-profile
endorsements from the likes
of Ocasio-Cortez, Philadelphia
DA Larry Krasner, Senators
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth
Warren.
But Cabán drew nationwide
attention with a progressive
platform that took an
aggressive stance against
mass incarceration and
decriminalizing sex work.
Cabán also said she would
not request cash bail from
defendants, regardless of the
crime.
Still votes to be counted
Meanwhile, Katz may be
down in the Queens district
attorney, but not out for the
count.
The Board of Elections
(BOE) reported that Katz
received 32,724 votes (38.30
percent) while DA candidate
Tiffany Cabán received 33,814
votes (39.57 percent). The
borough president said that
the race was not over until all
votes were counted.
“We always knew this was
gonna be tough, folks, ’cause
if it wasn’t tough, it wouldn’t
be a race,” Katz said to her
supporters at Banter Irish
Bar in Forest Hills. “I want
everyone to know right here,
we are doing a recount and
God willing, I’ll come out on
top.”
Congressman Gregory
Meeks, the chairman of the
Queens County Democrats
echoed Katz’s sentiments
about a revote.
“This thing ain’t over,
folks. There’s a wonderful
thing about a democracy; you
have to count every vote,”
Meeks said. “And we are so
happy and so thankful to have
all of you in this room because
every vote will be counted.”
Katz’s platforms during her
campaign included putting
an end to cash bail, creating
a conviction integrity unit
and closing Rikers Island.
Though she voted against the
mayor’s plan for boroughbased
jails, Katz said that
more community involvement
and planning were necessary
to create a more humane and
dignified facility.
Whoever is certified as
the winner of the Democratic
primary will face Republican
candidate Daniel Kogan, an
attorney from Ozone Park.
The general election is Nov. 5.
Melinda Katz at her Queens DA results party. Photo: Jenna Bagcal/QNS
4 TIMESLEDGER, JUNE 28, 2019 QNS.COM
/QNS.COM
