José Rafael Peralta (November 10, 1971 – November 21, 2018) was an American politician who served in the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate. A member of the Democratic Party, he last represented District 13 in the State Senate, which includes the Queens neighborhoods of Corona, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Woodside. He previously represented District 39 in the New York State Assembly, which is located in Queens, New York and includes Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. He was elected to the New York State Senate in a landslide on March 16, 2010. Peralta was a member of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), a group of Democratic senators who allied themselves with Senate Republicans. He was re-elected in 2012, 2014 and 2016, but was defeated in the 2018 Democratic primary.
Peralta died of leukemia at the age of 47 on November 21, 2018.
Life and family
Born in New York City on November 10, 1971, Peralta was a first-generation Dominican-American. After immigrating to the United States from the Dominican Republic, Peralta's father was employed as a bank teller. His mother, Rose Hernandez, worked as a seamstress. At the age of 8, Peralta moved with his family from Washington Heights, Manhattan to Queens. Peralta attended public elementary school in New York City and graduated from Flushing High School in 1989. He enrolled at Queens College, City University of New York and became the first Latino Student Body President at the college. Peralta graduated from Queens College in 1996, with a degree in psychology.
After graduating from Queens College, Peralta was a community liaison in the New York State Assembly. Peralta represented the interests of immigrants on the New York City Central Labor Council, serving in the position of Director of the Commission on the Dignity for Immigrants.
Peralta was a political staffer on campaigns in New York including Brian McLaughlin's campaign for New York State Assembly, Toby Stavisky's campaign for New York State Senate, Alan Hevesi election bid for New York City Comptroller and Hillary Clinton's campaign for United States Senate. Peralta was married to Evelyn, and had two sons, Myles and Matthew.
Political career
New York State Assembly
In the November 5, 2002 election, Peralta won a seat in the New York State Assembly representing District 39. He ran as a Democrat and beat candidate Charles Gonzales, a Republican. Peralta received 76 percent of the votes cast. He was the first Hispanic from Queens, New York to win an election to serve in the New York state Assembly. The 39th Assembly District in New York was created in 2002 as a result of the significant increase in immigrant population in the region. Peralta was sworn in as a member of the Assembly by Civil Court Judge Diccia Pineda, also of Dominican heritage. Peralta took the oath of office in Corona, New York at the New York Hall of Science. In attendance at Peralta's swearing-in ceremony were United States Senator Charles Schumer, Speaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver and Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin.
In March 2004, Peralta requested that state Republican leadership pass legislation which proposed to increase the state's minimum wage to $7.15 per hour. In April 2007, Peralta introduced anti-gang legislation in the Assembly that focused on creating Gang Free School Zones surrounding schools in New York. In June 2007, Peralta was among a majority of the Assembly that voted to support passage of a same-sex marriage bill in New York. In January 2008, Peralta co-signed legislation with Sheldon Silver, Audrey Pheffer and Rory I. Lancman which put forth a proposal of $150 million in funding for families that had the possibility of their homes being foreclosed upon.
Peralta worked with fellow Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry to change the Rockefeller drug laws. Peralta served in the Assembly as Chair of the Subcommittee on Banking in Underserved Communities. He worked to encourage banks to move into underserved regions through his Banking Development District legislation.