By Rich Bockmann
Shortly after the polls closed Tuesday night, Melinda Katz claimed victory in the borough president race at the Queens Democratic Party headquarters before heading off to Brooklyn to celebrate with Bill de Blasio, the new mayor.
Katz told her supporters gathered at the party’s headquarters in Forest Hills that she dedicated the campaign to her parents.
“They taught me that this is a borough worth fighting for. That this is a borough where you never have to go over a bridge or under a tunnel. You still get everything you want right here. And they had opportunities to go all over the world and they chose to stay right here in Queens. I’m proud to be raising my children in the very house I was brought up in, so I dedicate this evening to my parents and to my family.”
Katz left for the Park Slope Armory YMCA, where de Blasio was preparing to mark a landslide that would serve as a mandate for his progressive agenda.
With 62 percent of the precincts reporting later in the night, Katz had a decisive majority with 87.8 percent of the vote, according to preliminary numbers from the Associated Press.
Republican Tony Arcabascio garnered 18.7 percent and Everly Brown, the Jobs & Education candidate, pulled in 2.6 percent, according to the AP.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
