FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 20, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
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IT’S YOUR CHOICE!
Make your voice count in wild Queens DA primary
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens residents will head to the polls
Tuesday, June 25, to take the fi rst step in
electing a new district attorney for the
fi rst time in nearly three decades.
Th e 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 aft er he announced he would not
seek re-election last year.
Th e seven candidates range from veterans
of the political scene to fi rst-time
candidates, from left -wing reformers to
moderate liberals. Each candidate has
their vision for reforming, in varying
degrees, the Queens district attorney’s
offi ce 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 fi nal choice when the polls open this
Tuesday. Voting sites will open from 6
a.m. to 9 p.m. Th e primary is open to
registered Democratic voters.
Th e 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 fi eld 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
aft er 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 qualifi ed” aft er 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 offi ce 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 fi ve boroughs, the Mayor’s Offi ce 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 offi ce 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. Th e 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 offi ce appears
to be a longshot in the fi eld as does
Maspeth resident Betty Lugo, a former
Nassau County assistant district attorney
who went into private practice.
To fi nd your polling site location visit
nyc.pollsitelocator.com.
politics
/nyc.pollsitelocator.com
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