Katz holds massive financial lead over DA challengers as election approaches
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Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz is facing a challenge from third party candidate George Grasso and Republican Michael Mossa in a race for her seat. Eagle file photo by Caroline Ourso/Grasso campaign/Catherine Murawski, YouTube
By Ryan Schwach
In about a month, Queens voters will head to the polls and cast their vote in the borough’s race for district attorney for either the Democratic incumbent, her Republican challenger or a third party candidate mounting a run after losing in the primary.
On Nov. 7, Queens voters will pick between Democratic incumbent Melinda Katz, Republican candidate Michael Mossa and third party candidate, and previous Democratic primary challenger, George Grasso.
In the Democratic Primary in June, Katz won handedly, taking in 71 percent of the vote in a three way race between the incumbent, Grasso and defense attorney Devian Daniels.
Both Grasso and Daniels received nearly identical vote tallies, with around 14 percent of the vote each.
Going into the final weeks of the general election – her second general election vying for DA and her first time as the incumbent – Katz has pointed voters to her record, and said that she believes her work as DA will speak for itself at the ballot box.
"The district attorney is focused on doing her job to keep Queens families safe - getting guns off the street, taking on traffickers, and staying on high alert for hate crimes given the horror of what's going on in Israel right now,” a campaign spokesperson told the Eagle in a statement on Thursday. “That's the message she'll bring to the voters the next three weeks - that another term for District Attorney Katz means a leader at the helm who has their safety as her top priority."
Katz is largely expected to come out victorious on election day, an expectation that has only been bolstered by her financial situation.
Katz has spent $96,525 in the race, according to state filing data, and currently has a balance of $173,852 in her campaign war chest as the election nears closer.
She’s far outspent and has far more in her campaign account than at least one of her opponents. Her other opponent’s financial situation is a little less clear.
Longtime criminal attorney and one time City Council candidate Michael Mossa is currently listed as a candidate in the race on sample ballots provided by the New York City Board of Elections.
However, while Mossa has an authorized campaign committee listed with the state, he has yet to report any financial disclosure.
“I believe that we did what was done, it was late, but we only raised small amounts of money,” Mossa told the Eagle on Tuesday, after the story published in print. “But we did send everything to Albany, they said it was received.”
Not filing properly with the state was exactly the charge that Katz levied against primary opponent Daniels just days before the election.
Mossa, who is backed by the Queens Republican and Conservative Parties, has a campaign website, and has printed palm cards which call for keeping Rikers open, securing the border, and ending New York's role as a sanctuary city. Clicking on the endorsement tab on his website sends the user back to the site’s homepage.
He has reportedly attended a number of Queens candidate forums for the DA’s race, and recently addressed the Rockaway Republican Club in September, where The Wave reported he told attendees that a “low turnout election” was his “best chance” at winning the race.
Hoping to make more of a splash than he did in the primary, Grasso, the former administrative judge in Queens Supreme Court, Criminal Term, is also on the ballot under the “Public Safety” party and told the Eagle on Thursday that he thinks he is getting his name out there.
“I feel very good,” he said. “I mean, I'm out all over Queens.”
Grasso said he has made numerous stops to communities like Belle Harbor in the Rockaways, Whitestone, Broad Channel and Bayside, neighborhoods where a high turnout from conservative or moderate voters could help his chances.
“There's a real energy from people out there,” Grasso said.
Grasso, a former NYPD officer and judge, is a lifelong Democrat but holds a more conservative tough-on-crime philosophy. In the run-up to the primary election, Grasso said that he invited support from Republicans if they were willing to give it. He also committed to running on the third party line weeks before the primary was held.
“I anticipated me being in this place, I wouldn't have put time and resources into creating a Public Safety line at the time I did,” he said. “I knew from the beginning, if I was serious about winning and getting over the finish line, I needed to put the time and resources and energy into getting an independent third line.”
Before the primary and since, Grasso has criticized Katz for not taking a tough enough stance on crime in Queens, and cites higher crime rates among the seven major crimes in areas like Patrol Borough Queens North, where the seven majors are up nearly 60 percent in the last two years, according to NYPD crime data.
“These numbers are not being controlled,” said Grasso.
Financially, however, Grasso is far behind his Democratic opponent.
According to campaign finance data, Grasso has spent $6,843 on his campaign, and only has a balance of $8,352 remaining – only about 5 percent of what Katz has with 26 days left until the election.
Head to vote.nyc for information on early voting, absentee voting, poll sites and more ahead of the upcoming election.
