Peralta Wins Election for Seat Monserrate Held in State Senate - NYTimes.com

Monserrate Is Soundly Defeated in Bid to Regain State Senate Seat

James Estrin/The New York Times

Former Senator Hiram Monserrate after polls closed in Jackson Heights, Queens for the special election for his former seat.

By FERNANDA SANTOS

iram Monserrate, who was expelled from the State Senate after being convicted of assaulting his companion, was handily defeated on Tuesday by José R. Peralta in a special election in Queens for Mr. Monserrate’s former seat.

Yana Paskova for The New York Times

José R. Peralta celebrated winning the special election for a Senate seat with his son Matthew Peralta on Tuesday night in Queens.

The victory was not unexpected given the level of organized Democratic support for Mr. Peralta, an assemblyman from Queens. Mr. Peralta also had a huge financial advantage over Mr. Monserrate, who ran as an independent and tried to persuade voters to give him another chance to represent them in Albany.