Queens DA Election: One-Third Of Voters Are Undecided, Poll Says

QUEENS, NY — Polls commissioned by Queens district attorney candidate Greg Lasak show that more than a third of voters are still undecided about their vote in the upcoming primary election, according to survey disclosures filed with the state elections board.

About 35 percent of polled Queens Democratic voters say they're not sure which of the seven DA candidates they would vote for in the party's June 25 primary, according to a Lasak-commissioned poll conducted by phone from May 28 to May 30.

The poll asked: "If the Democratic Primary for District Attorney were held today, and the candidates were Greg Lasak, Rory Lancman, Jose Nieves, Melinda Katz, Mina Malik, Betty Lugo, or Tiffany Cabán for whom would you vote?"

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz was the top choice for the 400 voters polled in May, records show: Thirty-four percent of respondents said they would vote for or lean toward voting for Melinda Katz.

But Lasak's polls suggest that support for Katz is falling. A similar poll of 500 registered Queens Democratic voters in early February found that 45 percent of voters surveyed would vote for Katz or leaned toward voting for her, compared to the 34 percent of voters who chose her in the May poll.

Lasak, a former State Supreme Court Judge, has used the finding as leverage for his fundraising campaigns.

"We just got a poll back and Judge Lasak is SURGING," reads a June 3 email to Lasak's mailing list. "When we polled back in February, Career Politician Katz was leading the pack by more than 40 points. Since then, there's been an 18 POINT swing in our favor!"

Lasak and public defender Tiffany Cabán both got 10 percent in the May survey, compared to about three percent for Lasak and two percent for Cabán in February.

City Council Member Rory Lancman got five percent in both polls.

The telephone surveys conducted by ALG Research in February and May provide some insight into where voters stand ahead of the primary later this month, which is likely to determine the borough's next chief prosecutor.

There have so far been no public polling results for the race.

Campaign spokespeople for Katz, Lasak, Cabán and Lancman did not immediately respond to Patch's requests for comment.