AOC-backed candidate Tiffany Caban declares victory in tightly contested Queens DA race
A progressive criminal justice reformer stunned the Queens Democratic party Tuesday night by besting the handpicked local machine candidate in the district attorney primary by a few hundred votes in an election that was too close to call.
With 98% of the districts counted, public defender Tiffany Cabán, who ran on a platform of decriminalizing sex work and “ending racist law enforcement” had 39.65% of the vote to 38.21% for Borough President Melinda Katz, who worked her way up through the county system, according to unofficial results from the city Board of Elections.
There were about 1,200 votes between them.
Whoever wins is poised to become the first female Queens DA.
There are about 3,400 uncounted paper ballots — including affidavit, absentee and military— and they can’t be tallied until July 3, according to the Board of Elections.
“We are doing a recount,” Katz told a crowd of supporters at a Forrest Hills election night bash.
“This thing ain’t over folks,” Queens Democratic party boss Rep. Gregory Meeks pledged. “Every vote will be counted.”
Caban took the stage at the La Boom Club in Woodside a little after 11 p.m. to a chanting crowd and declared victory.
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-tiffany-caban-melinda-katz-queens-da-district-attorney-democratic-20190626-ic22ow62q5aznctytdpx7bcf3q-story.html
