Katz Declares Victory Over Cabán After Queens DA Vote Recount

QUEENS, NY — Queens Borough President Melinda Katz is claiming victory in the Queens district attorney primary, after a recount widened her lead over public defender Tiffany Cabán by several dozen votes.

The race isn't over yet. Results aren't official until the elections board certifies them, which will happen next week. And pending litigation over 114 affidavit ballots and challenges to board rulings during the recount could still shift the tally.

Katz secured a 60-vote lead over Cabán after NYC Board of Elections staffers on Thursday finished recounting all 91,000 ballots by hand.

Her campaign, in a statement emailed shortly after the recount wrapped up, declared victory: "Now that every valid vote has been counted and recounted, the results confirm once again that the people of Queens have chosen Melinda Katz."

Cabán refused to concede, THE CITY reported.

"We are going to continue to fight," she said, referencing her campaign's upcoming court battle.

Lawyers for both candidates will head to a Queens courtroom Aug. 6 to argue over the fate of 114 affidavit ballots invalidated for missing information like party affiliation, as well as an untold number of ballots that the elections board invalidated during the recount.

Jerry Goldfeder, Cabán's lawyer, told THE CITY the campaign objected to dozens of the election board's rulings during the recount.

Cabán, an insurgent candidate backed by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, declared victory the night of the primary election with a lead of just over 1,000 votes.

Then a count of absentee and affidavit ballots put Katz ahead by a handful of votes, and she claimed the nomination. Her lead of less than 0.5 percent of the vote triggered an automatic recount.

The Democratic nominee will go up against GOP candidate Daniel Kogan in the Nov. 5 election.