Katz certifi ed winner in Queens DA primary
BY MARK HALLUM
More than a month after
the polls closed, the Board
of Elections finally declared
a winner on Monday in the
roller-coaster, nail-biter
Democratic primary for
Queens district attorney.
Borough President Melinda
Katz was certified as the
victor in the June 25 primary
over her closest rival, public
defender Tiffany Cabán,
who had initially declared
victory immediately after the
primary. Cabán’s team is now
heading to court seeking to
have counted more than 100
ballots which the Board of
Elections had disqualified for
various discrepancies.
Winning in court seems to
be the only path of victory left
for the Cabán campaign — a
stunning reversal of fortune
from the night of June 25, when
she celebrated an apparent
win, having emerged from the
primary with an 1,100 vote
lead. Katz, however, refused
to concede, insisting that the
Board of Elections count the
thousands of absentee and
approved affidavit ballots cast
in the rates.
After that count took place
on July 3, to the surprise of
Tiffany Cabán (left) and Melinda Katz. Photo by Mark Hallum/QNS
many, Katz wound up with a
razor-thin 20 vote lead over
Cabán. That triggered an
automatic recount begun the
following week and ended
on July 25, with the Board
of Elections re-examining
all 91,000 votes cast in the
race. As it turned out, Katz’s
lead grew to a final margin
of 60 after all the votes had
been recounted.
But the Cabán campaign
has remained optimistic in
the court siding in their favor,
claiming the BOE’s decision
gives them the opportunity
to pursue the vindication
of over 100 affidavit and
objected ballots in court on
July 31.
Michael Ryan, the executive
director of the BOE, defended
the determinations of the
board, claiming they will also
be in court with the Cabán
campaign only to clarify
matters, not to making any
arguments for their process.
“Essentially this litigation
is really in some respects a
one-sided affair, in that the
party that has a claim will
make it. And the court will
make a determination based
on the law. We will simply be
there represented by the law
department to say what we did,
not to advocate a position,”
Ryan said. “So it’s ot really
an adversarial circumstance
the way normal litigation
will be.”
At a meeting at the
Manhattan office, the board
thanked the work of BOE
staff from the Queens office
who spent ten days counting
91,000 ballots in the a facility
in Middle Village before
sending the their certification
to Albany.
The Cabán campaign has
been attempting to have up
to 114 affidavit ballots they
believe were erroneously
disqualified because
of what attorney Jerry
Goldfeder has referred to as
“hyper-technicalities.”
But the court hearing has
been postponed from earlier
dates awaiting a certified
result from the BOE.
Read more at QNS.com.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by email at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4564.
‘A comeback story’: Katz celebrates primary win
BY MARK HALLUM
Borough President Melinda
Katz gained the Democratic
nomination for the Queens
District Attorney on Monday
after the Board of Elections
certified recount results that
placed her 60 votes ahead of
Tiffany Cabán.
Katz threw an “appreciation
party” for her supporters
at a Banter, a Forest Hills
watering hole where her and
Congressman Gregory Meeks
celebrated gaining a followthrough
on their primary
night promise to “count every
valid vote.”
“Let’s run back the tape. I
remember being here not long
ago saying it wasn’t over yet
until every vote is counted,”
said Meeks, the new chairman
of Queens Democratic Party.
“When you look at those
results, you see a candidate that
had the power to bring Queens
together. We talked about our
diversity, you look at the whole
breadth of Queens County, you
will see that Melinda Katz has
won thoroughly … to make
sure have the kind of DA the
represents the great diversity
of Queens County.”
Katz’s words at the victory
party directed aggression
toward the Cabán campaign
which often attack her ties to
the real estate industry as well
as accusations that she was the
“establishment” candidate.
“It was really hard to stand
up the last few weeks. We were
having difficult times in the
papers. We weren’t sure if we
won or lost,” Katz said. “We
are entering very personal
times. We are entering very
complicated times, and during
the campaign at times people
made it seem so easy – like
we’re going to change this and
we’re going to change that. You
know what we need to do, we
need to make sure that there is
justice for victims and justice
for defendants.”
Katz also railed against
claims from Cabán supporters
that the process could not be
Congressman Gregory Meeks and Melinda Katz at Banter in Forest
Hills on July 29. Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
trusted on account of influence
from the Queens County
Democratic Party due to their
role appointing BOE board
members. There was also much
scorn for the use of Frank Bolz
and Michael Reich as attorneys
for Katz in consideration to
their history of profiting off
surrogate courts.
“I am incredibly proud
of this campaign. We stayed
above the board. We held our
heads high,” Katz continued.
“We talked the truth and the
truth, people here, they hear
it. They want to hear and they
knew they were getting it from
this campaign.”
The Monday party at
Banter was the antithesis of
the attitudes at the end of the
June 25 primary.
Election night numbers
had Cabán leading Katz by
over 1,100 votes out of a sevencandidate
field while basking
in what her supporters
perceived as another upset
against the Queens Democratic
Party “machine” at Laboom
in Jackson Heights. But the
afterglow quickly diminished
as a count of over 3,550
absentee and affidavit ballots
placed Katz 16 votes ahead.
What started as a county
race quickly turned into a
national story that echoed
the victory of Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez over former
Congressman Joe Crowley a
year prior.
“People all over the United
States were watching this race
to see what was going to happen,
and you know what happened?
The most qualified, effective,
reform-minded, intelligent,
capable person won this race,”
Congressman Tom Suozzi said
on Monday. “Everybody loves a
comeback story.”
Read more at QNS.com.
TIMESLEDGER,4 AUG. 2-8, 2019 QNS.COM
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