Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz entered her re-election bid with overwhelming advantages. She’s well-known in the community as the incumbent, and has represented the borough as a member of the state assembly, city council and as borough president.
She also has far more campaign cash than her opponents, and the backing of the entire Democratic establishment plus a host of labor groups.
What You Need To Know
- First-term Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz is a heavy favorite to win re-election on Nov. 7
- Katz has an overwhelming fundraising advantage and support from the Democratic establishment and numerous labor groups
- George Grasso lost to Katz in the Democratic primary by 57 points and is now running on a third-party line
- Michael Mossa, the Republican and Conservative Party candidate, has tried to tie Katz to the party’s progressive wing
“I am truly grateful to the people of Queens County for putting their faith in me the first time,” Katz told NY1 in an interview, “and so hopefully I didn’t let them down.”
Katz won the Democratic primary in June, easily dispatching her two opponents. Her closest challenger, George Grasso, lost by 57 points. He is now running on a third-party line, while Michael Mossa is the Republican and Conservative Party candidate.
“I’m standing up against a Democratic party that basically took a seismic shift to the left,” Mossa said in an interview. “And the so-called moderates are merely enablers, because the progressive movement has taken over the Democratic Party.”
Mossa is a first-time candidate and virtual unknown who has raised little money. He frames himself as the tough-on-crime candidate, particularly when it comes to shoplifting, and tries to link Katz to progressive policies like bail reform.
“Their rallying cry is, 'That’s criminalizing poverty,’” Mossa said. “You need a DA that says, ‘You know what? Poverty is not an excuse. Your economic class is not an excuse to commit crimes. If you steal, you go to jail. It’s as simple as that.’”
Katz is a moderate who has supported rollbacks to bail reform. She points to her record targeting gun crimes, gangs and domestic violence.
“Our murders have gone down over 40% more than the rest of the city,” she said. “Our shootings have gone down over 10% more than the rest of the city. Our retail theft, we are thinking outside the box, making sure that people are held accountable every single time that they are out there committing those types of thefts.”
Katz is in her first term as DA. In the 2019 Democratic primary, she prevailed over Tiffany Caban by just 60 votes — a level of suspense she is expected to avoid in this election.