The three-way race for the Northwest Queens Senate seat vacated by the expulsion of Hiram Monserrate following his misdemeanor assault conviction is turning into a steel cage death match, with none of the civility.
Monserrate is running on his own Yes We Can line against Democratic Assemblymember Jose Peralta and Republican administrative law judge Robert Beltrani.
Beltrani has criticized Peralta for securing taxpayer funding for an inactive nonprofit housed in a building that shared space with his own campaign committee. Peralta has said a hold was put on the group’s state funding and there was nothing inappropriate about the arrangement.
Peralta was previously planning on running against Monserrate in the regularly scheduled Democratic primary this September. He will also be on the Working Families line and has received the endorsement of City Councilmember Daniel Dromm, who has been a longtime leader in the LGBT community, which is especially active in Jackson Heights.
Understandably, a major issue in this race is gay marriage, which Peralta voted for as an assemblymember and Monserrate voted against last November in the Senate.
Monserrate is countering Peralta’s support from pro same-sex marriage groups and the LGBT community by courting churches in the heavily Hispanic district. A number of Pentecostal ministers and church-goers have rallied to Montserrate’s campaign.
While Monserrate suffers the dubious distinction of being the first legislator expelled by his colleagues since the 1920s, he has several advantages, primarily name recognition from having represented the area as a senator and councilmember for the last eight years.
Meanwhile, Beltrani appeared at a City Hall press conference held by Democratic Assemblymember Felix Ortiz from Brooklyn to promote a domestic violence bill that will strengthen orders of protection and provide for increased monitoring of assailants, including GPS technology.
Beltrani pointed out that domestic violence, of course, remains an issue in the race, since it’s the reason there’s a Special Election next week in the first place.
Daniel Egers is on Councilmember Dan Halloran’s staff, is executive director of the Queens County Republican Party, a Trustee of the Bayside Historical Society and President of the Friends of Oakland Lake. The views expressed in this column are his own.
