Katz’s lead is cut by 1 vote

Tiffany Caban has narrowed the margin of victory for Melinda Katz by one vote after a manual recount was completed in one assembly district in the tighter-than-tight Queens district attorney race.

Caban (near right), a progressive insurgent candidate, now trails Katz by just 15 votes out of nearly 100,000 cast in the Democratic primary after the count was completed in the 24th Assembly District.

Katz’s total in the eastern Queens district dipped by one vote after the manual recount from 1,969 to 1,968, according sources. Caban’s total stayed the same at 1,197. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the change.

Caban’s campaign warned against reading too much into the tiny shift.

“There are many ballots that remain to be counted over the days ahead. The vote margin will remain fluid,” said Monica Klein, a spokeswoman for Caban. “We caution observers from making any preliminary conclusions before votes from all assembly districts are counted.”

A spokesman for Katz’s campaign accused Caban supporter of “cherry-picking” favorable results to give the “illusion that she is gaining votes.”

“We remain confident that when it is over, Melinda Katz (above right) will remain the candidate with the most votes,” said Matthew Rey, the Katz spokesman.

Rey claimed Katz had actually gained votes in the manual recount so far, but refused to provide vote counts to back up the assertion.

Board of Elections spokeswoman Valerie Vasquez said the manual recount was completed Thursday afternoon in the 23rd and 25th assembly districts as well as the 24th. She declined to reveal vote totals, saying officials would only comment when the recount was over.

The assembly districts are being recounted in numerical order. Since New York assembly districts are numbered starting on eastern Long Island and working their way west, in practical terms that means the count started with areas where Katz won in eastern Queens and will end with Caban’s strongholds in western Queens near Manhattan.

The 24th assembly district is a stronghold of Katz, who is the current borough president and the choice of the party establishment. But it’s not clear that votes gained or lost in the manual recount will track margins in the count from Election Night.

The Board of Elections is not releasing running figures from the manual recount, which is proceeding faster than expected.

Caban appeared to have won a narrow victory over Katz on Election Night, riding overwhelming margins in Long Island City and Astoria to build an 1,100-vote lead.

But Katz refused to concede and with good reason. She won a dominant margin among about 3,500 absentee ballots to grab a 20-vote lead.