QUEENS, NY — Tiffany Cabán, who came just 55 votes shy of winning the Democratic nomination for Queens district attorney earlier this year, is joining the Working Families Party as a national political organizer, the group announced Wednesday.

The former public defender will help the party recruit, train and elect criminal justice reformers in district attorney and sheriff elections across the country, according to a press release. "The Working Families Party combines movement building with electoral know-how to make real change," Cabán said in a statement. "I'm so excited to work alongside the WFP to elect a new generation of reformers who will help to end mass incarceration in this country."



Leading up to the July primary election for Queens district attorney, Cabán drew headlines for her grassroots campaign that pledged to radically transform the traditional view of the role of a prosecutor, winning endorsements from progressive darlings U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "Tiffany's campaign showed that public defenders, activists, and organizers running on an agenda of transformational reform can compete for offices usually dominated by the law-and-order establishment," Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell said in a statement.

The party endorsed Cabán and provided funding for staff and free office space, but organizers didn't collect signatures to get Cabán a spot on the general election ballot, according to the Queens Daily Eagle, which broke the news of the gig. Cabán will only stay on board through February 2020, the Eagle reported.