By Rebecca Henely
Four months after winning the Jackson Heights state Senate seat left open after Hiram Monserrate was ousted in a landslide election, Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights) has been already gearing up to try to win it again.
Republican Richard La Salle, a Jackson Heights-based lawyer, is gearing up to challenge Peralta for the seat.
Anne Fenton, spokeswoman for Peralta, said in an e-mail the senator collected more than 9,100 petition signatures to file with the state Board of Elections. He has the support of the Working Families Party and the Democratic Party.
According to the board’s website, the senator has received contributions for his Senate campaign totaling $599,231.68 since Jan. 1 for his Senate campaigns. His biggest donation came from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee Field Accounting, which gave $130,000.
He also received contributions of $9,500 each from the 1199 New York State PAC; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; Friends of Craig Johnson; New Yorkers for Klein; the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association Inc.; the Members of Mason Tenders District Council PAC; Savino for New York; and the Voice of Teachers for Education.
His expenditures filed for the year have been $582,221.32, according to the campaign finance filings. The major expenditures have been $99,585 for Mirram, which is doing consulting for Peralta in this race, Fenton said. The other large expenditure was $197,459.46 to the consulting firm Parkside Group.
“Sen. Peralta will run on his record of success of fighting for hardworking families in his district,” Fenton said, “balancing the budget and ensuring that the spending cuts were fair and responsible, while strengthening businesses and creating jobs, maintaining a well-funded transportation and infrastructure system and promoting a cleaner, greener environment.”
His GOP challenger La Salle also has the support of the Independence and Conservative parties. He said he did not know the exact number of petition signatures he collected but believed he has accumulated more than twice the needed number for each party.
La Salle said he wanted to run to support the interests of minority constituents. Like Peralta, La Salle is Hispanic.
“I tend to represent the Hispanic working class,” La Salle said.
According to the campaign finance records, La Salle has received contributions of $17,398.49. Some of his top donors were El Pollo Gus Restaurant, which gave $5,000, and AuCapina Cabinets, which gave him $5,000. His expenditures have been $13,069.06 so far, with his biggest outlay of $3,700 going to Michael Niebauer for consulting.
La Salle said he is primarily self-funded.
“So I’m not concerned about raising money,” he said.
La Salle wants to run on a campaign of smaller taxes and support for small businesses as well as the cleanup and maintenance of the Jackson Heights area.
“I do believe the key to minorities in this neighborhood being successful is business,” he said. “The more businesses that are established, the more jobs are created.”
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
