Public Employee Press

Political Action 2010
Peralta elected

DC 37’s Green Machine of volunteers helped José Peralta win 65 percent of the vote March 16 in a special election for the state Senate seat representing the 13th district of Queens.

Peralta trounced his opponent, the disgraced Hiram Monserrate, who was ousted from the Senate, ran for his former seat as an Independent, but lost with 27 percent of the vote.

Peralta thanked DC 37 for its support and said, “In the Senate, I will continue to support the working people of this state. I will send a clear message: This state’s budget cannot and will not be balanced on the backs of working families.”

Union volunteers flooded campaign headquarters and leafleted at bus stops and in busy commercial districts in Jackson Heights. More than 1,400 DC 37 members live in the district.

Elected to the state Assembly in 2002 at 30, Peralta, a Dominican-American, headed the New York City Central Labor Council’s Commission on the Dignity of Immigrants. He received endorsements from powerful New York Democrats including U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Comptroller John Liu, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and City Council members, civil rights leaders and others.

Sen. Peralta will represent the densely populated communities of central and northeast Queens, including Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, East Elmhurst, Lefrak City and Woodside. He will have to run again in the September primary.