Anti-Marriage Hiram Monserratte is Defeated; Pro-Marriage Jose Peralta Elected

By Michael Crawford
Mar 17, 2010 at 02:25 pm

Anti-marriage former State Senator Hiram Monserratte lost his bid top regain his seat yesterday. He was defeated by a 3-1 margin by Assemblymember Jose Peralta. Peralta voted for marriage for same-sex couples three times while serving in the Assembly.
 
Monserratte's opposition to marriage played a role in his defeat. 
 

Still, the election followed a fierce, if brief, campaign in which a debate over same-sex marriage, which Mr. Peralta favors and Mr. Monserrate opposes, often overshadowed discussions on issues that are vital to many of the largely Hispanic district's working-class and immigrant residents, like affordable health care and school overcrowding.

With 94 percent of the vote counted, unofficial returns from the overwhelmingly Democratic 13th State Senate District showed Mr. Peralta with 66 percent and Mr. Monserrate with 27 percent. The Republican candidate, Robert Beltrani, an administrative law judge, came in third with 7 percent.

"Tonight we put an end to dysfunction," Mr. Peralta told a crowd at a restaurant in East Elmhurst. "Our nightmare is over." 

Monserratte made his opposition to marriage a key component of his campaign.

 

 

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