Dem NY Gay Marriage foe loses election to pro-equality Dem

[FreeState]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/nyregion/17hiram.html

Yeah - one anti-civil rights girlfriend beating ass down. 7 more anti-civil rights bigots to go...

Monserrate Loses Bid to Regain Seat

Hiram Monserrate, who was expelled from the State Senate last month after he was convicted of assaulting his companion, failed Tuesday in his quest to regain his seat as José R. Peralta handily won a special election to represent a swath of predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods in Queens, according to early returns.

The victory was not unexpected given the level of organized Democratic support for Mr. Peralta, an Assemblyman from Queens, who also had an enormous 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.

Still, the election followed a fierce, if brief, campaign where a debate over same-sex marriage, which Mr. Peralta favors and Mr. Monserrate opposes, often overshadowed discussions on issues that matter more to many of the district’s working-class and immigrant residents, such as affordable healthcare and school overcrowding.

With 35 percent of the vote counted, unofficial returns from the overwhelmingly Democratic 13th State Senate District showed Mr. Peralta with 60 percent and Mr. Monserrate with 34 percent. The Republican candidate, Robert Beltrani, an administrative law judge, came in a third with six percent of the vote.

As far as special elections go, this one drew unusual attention, a sizeable turnout and intense passion because of the circumstances surrounding it: The leading contenders were once close political allies and were competing for a Senate seat that became vacant on Feb. 9 when Mr. Monserrate became the first Albany lawmaker removed from office since the 1920s...