Public Defender Tiffany Cabán. (Tiffany Cabán)
Aug. 28, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Tiffany Cabàn, the progressive insurgent who narrowly lost the Democratic primary for Queens District Attorney last year, is expected to run for the Astoria City Council seat, according to a new report.
Cabàn is looking to run for City Council District 22, currently represented by Costa Constantinides, who is term-limited and must vacate the seat after 2021, City & State reported Thursday.
The 33-year-old public defender filled out a questionnaire for city council candidates seeking the endorsement from the New York City branch of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), according the outlet.
Cabán got the DSA endorsement in her 2019 run for district attorney and fought tooth-and-nail against the party establishment pick Melinda Katz.
She originally declared victory with more than 1,100 votes ahead of Katz, but when affidavit and absentee ballots were counted, Katz moved ahead by a mere 16 votes. The slim margin called for a weeks-long manual recount in which more than 90,000 ballots were sorted and recounted. At its completion, Katz came out as the winner by a 60 vote difference.
After a fierce court battle, Cabán conceded with just a 55-vote margin behind Katz.
“I am a 32-year-old queer Latina public defender,” she said during her concession speech in August 2019. “I don’t look like our politicians, I don’t sound like most of them [and] I’d never run a campaign before.”
Cabàn outperformed Katz in the DA race among voters in Astoria and East Elmhurst. She won the vast majority of votes in the district.
The race for the 22nd District seat is an already crowded field, according to filings with the New York Campaign Finance Board.
Seven other Queens residents, listed below, are looking to raise funds.
Jaime-Faye Bean
Leonardo Bullaro
Jesse Cerrotti
Evie Hantzopoulos
Felicia Kalan
Nicholas Roloson
Rod Townsend
The Democratic primary will be held next year, as the majority of the City Council vacates their seats due to term limits. Eleven Queens districts will have vacancies.
Tiffany Cabán at Katch Astoria (Queens Post Photo)
Featured Events
One Comment
ugh, give it up.
“Politics is more dangerous than war, for in war you are only killed once.”