AOC-backed candidate Tiffany Cabán declares victory in tightly contested Queens DA race

By Elizabeth Rosner
June 25, 2019 | 11:41pm | Updated


Tiffany Cabán and Melinda Katz.Stephen Yang; Ellis Kaplan

Insurgent lefty candidate Tiffany Cabán declared victory over establishment favorite Melinda Katz for Queens district attorney Tuesday night in a tight race.

Cabán, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s preferred pick for the office, garnered 39.5% of the vote compared to Democratic rival Melinda Katz’s 38.3% with 98% of precincts reporting.

“They said we could not win but we did it ya’ll,” Cabán said at La Boom in Woodside on Tuesday night where supporters watched the results come in.

“They said I didn’t look like a district attorney. They said I was too young. They said we could not build a movement from the grassroots. They said we could not win — but we did it, y’all.”

Cabán also acknowledged the support of Ocasio-Cortez, who tweeted about the apparent victory.

“We meet a machine with a movement,” the freshman congresswoman tweeted.

Katz was unwilling to declare defeat, claiming that all the votes should be counted.

“We always knew this was going to be tough, because if it wasn’t tough it wouldn’t be a race,” she said Tuesday night.

“There’s a lot of thank you’s to be made and a lot more days until a recount, but I didn’t want tonight to go by without thanking so many of you.”

Cabán is a 31-year-old public defender who wants to decriminalize sex work, close Rikers Island and end cash bail.

The young lawyer was joined on stage with city Comptroller Scott Stringer and state Sen. Jessica Ramos.

During her campaign, Cabán also received endorsements from presidential hopefuls Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

”I am so proud of her,” her father, Eddie Cabán, told The Post.

“You’re doing it honey! You rock!”

The unlikely lead from an insurgent candidate on the left was reminiscent of Ocasio-Cortez’s upset against Joe Crowley in a congressional primary last year.

Katz received support from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Crowley, the former the Queens Democratic Party chief.

Gregory Lasak, a Queens prosecutor, also took nearly 15% of the vote, possibly siphoning support from Katz.

Supporters of the leading candidate chanted “Cabán for Queens” and “People Power” while some wore Ocasio-Cortez T-shirts.

“Is everyone ready for transformational justice? Are you emotionally prepared for a new Queens DA?” state Sen. Jessica Ramos asked the crowd.

Cabán pulled out her lead mostly due to big support in Astoria, Long Island City and Sunnyside. Katz, meanwhile, underperformed in Broad Channel and the Rockaways.

https://nypost.com/2019/06/25/aoc-ba...ueens-da-race/