Ahead of a court battle, Borough President Melinda Katz was named the official winner in the Democratic primary race for Queens district attorney after the New York City Board of Elections finished the recount and certified the race Monday.

VICTORY BY 60 VOTES

 

Earlier this month, public defender Tiffany Cabán's roughly 1,100-vote lead evaporated after the Board of Elections counted more than 3,500 absentee ballots. Katz, who has the support of the Queens Democratic Party organization, chaired by Rep. Gregory Meeks, was found to have won 34,920 ballots to Cabán's 34,860.

The recount was triggered in early July. A margin of victory below 450 votes (0.5 percent) in this race triggered the automatic manual recount.

A COURT FIGHT OVER INVALIDATED BALLOTS

Cabán, however, isn't bowing out. The Board of Elections ruled more than one hundred affidavit ballots invalid, and the Cabán team wants them opened and counted. A court hearing over those ballots is scheduled for Wednesday.

"Our campaign is fighting to protect Queens voters from being disenfranchised and allow their voices to be heard," campaign spokeswoman Monica Klein said in a statement.

Katz said the people of Queens had spoken.

"While it is everyone's right to avail themselves of the judicial process, I urge all participants in this hard-fought election to come together and join me in beginning the hard work of reforming the criminal justice system in Queens," she said in a statement.

THE STATE OF THE RACE

The candidates for Queens DA had been debating how to implement criminal justice reforms becoming popular around the United States, such as ending cash bail and reducing jail populations — and they debated how far the policies should go.

The next Queens district attorney will enter an office that had been occupied for nearly three decades by Richard Brown, who passed away earlier this year.

Katz was arguably viewed as the frontrunner in the race because she had the support of most of the Queens Democratic Party and many labor union endorsements, but she faced a spirited challenge from Cabán, who seemed to gain momentum late in the primary season. Cabán earned the endorsements of several prominent progressives, such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and the New York Times endorsed her. Cabán also got a late boost in donations — more than $233,000 in a three-week span before the primary, compared to Katz's $172,000.

The initial election results sent shockwaves through the city's political establishment and garnered the 31-year-old public defender national headlines.

The Democratic nominee advances to the November general election, which she is expected to win.

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Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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