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Slasher Monserrate Going Down in Flames; Congratulations Senator Jose Peralta
As the returns filter in, it looks like Jose Peralta is trouncing Slasher Monserrate in the special election to fill Monserrate's State Senate seat after Monserrate got kicked out by his colleagues after he beat up his girlfriend.
Hiram "Slasher" Monserrate has always been something of a thuggish DINO. He really pissed people off by briefly switching to Republican to throw the State Senate back into paralysis out of some immature tantrum. I was disgusted by how NY State Democrats welcomed him back when his petty tantrum was over and he switched back to Democrat.
Then came the allegation, partly based on behavior caught on film, that he slashed his girlfriend's face with broken glass then brutally manhandled her to the hospital. Yes, we are talking about a State Senator here, not some common thug...or maybe he IS a common thug who happened to get to the State Senate. Here is footage of him manhandling his girlfriend...you tell me. Is this how YOU would handle your injured beloved?
Monserrate was convicted of manhandling his girlfriend (a misdemeanor) because it was caught on tape but not of slashing her face (a felony) because there were no witnesses and she, as is sadly typical of abused spouses the world over, refused to press charges. Nevertheless, based on the misdemeanor conviction, his colleagues in the State Senate kicked him out and Governor Paterson, despite his own problems, called a special election. Jose Peralta chose to run against him as a Democrat. Monserrate arrogantly decided that even a brutal, girlfriend slashing thug had a right to be in the State Senate, ran as an independent.
Well, it looks like slashing your girlfriend's face is NOT considered an endearing quality in a State Senator in Queens. Jose Peralta is the new State Senator from Queen's State Senate District 13. With more than 40% of the vote in Peralta is winning with over 60%, Slasher has around 30%, and the Republican candidate around 7%. The Slasher would have to win almost all of the remaining votes to pull off a win at this point. Which isn't going to happen.
The sad thing is 30% of the voters thought slashing his girlfriend's face didn't disqualify him from representing them. I should also note that even a face-slashing thug like Monserrate polls better than Republicans in most of NYC. I once said the Democrats could run a sponge cake in certain districts of NYC and still win against the Republicans. Honestly, I'd rather a sponge cake, or a Republican, over someone like Monserrate who you can't trust and who is a thug who slashes his girlfriend's face then manhandles her to the hospital.
But the majority rejected the thug and the Republian. Jose Peralta won the day. In the end democracy, and the Democrats, save some face. Let's hope Peralta is a much better senator than Slasher Monserrate was. Of course he doesn't even have to try very hard to be better. But I sure hope he does try hard!
Re: Slasher Monserrate Going Down in Flames; ...
I think 30% is more than sad, it's worrisome. He's obviously got a core of loyalists (beneficiaries? or a very large family), and he's not giving up. He's likely to run for Peralta's vacated assembly seat, and we're going to have to keep smacking him down, over and over, until he finally gets the news.
Problem not solved
Monserrate spent years helping a variety of people, and he called in the favors they owed him; that's how he got 27.3% in a special election where turnout was just over 13% overall -- that means he got about 3.6% of registered voters.
Peralta, with 65.4% of the votes cast, got less than 8.6% of registered voters. Add in Republican Robert Beltrani's 1.0% of registered voters, and the real result is dismal.
Any election where over 90% of registered voters don't vote for the winner is a problem. This is not a mandate for José Peralta; it is a rejection not only of Hiram Monserrate, but of politics as usual.
And this turnout is higher than the 11% turnout citywide for last September's Democratic primary.
Clearly, the people who run our government are not doing the job they're supposed to be doing. Instead, they are doing everything they can to keep themselves in power, regardless of the cost to society. Hiram Monserrate is a bit worse than the others, which is why he is out, but the problem remains.