Jose Peralta, Senator of the State, dies at 47

New York

State Senator Jose Peralta, a legislator from New York who was the first American-American to be elected to the Senate, has passed away. The Democrat was 47 years old and near the end of nearly two decades in the Legislature after losing a primary this fall.

Peralta died Wednesday night at Elmhurst Hospital, said spokesman Chris Sosa. The cause of death has not been determined.

Peralta's wife, Evelyn, told reporters that she had felt pressure behind her ears and headaches for a week or more and had seen a doctor, according to local media reports. But his health condition did not sound the alarm until he had a fever Tuesday, then became disoriented and had difficulty breathing on Wednesday, when he was sick. he was taken to the hospital, she said. His wife said that his family thought his illness was an infection but was waiting for the results of the autopsy.

"We really do not know what happened," she said. "… he just took a turn for the worse."

Peralta has represented parts of Queens in the New York Senate for eight years and has already served in the state assembly for eight years. As a senator, he was a member of the now defunct Democratic Independent Conference, a dissident democratic group that for a time formed a coalition with the Republicans to control the chamber.

The news of his death sparked a wave of sympathy from officials and the future senator who ousted him during the September primary. "When I met with him in 2003, our world was promising," senator Jessica Ramos wrote on Twitter. "Although, years later, we do not agree on the question, I know deep down that he loves his community."

Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, called Peralta "a staunch defender of queens" who "fought tirelessly to make a difference for others".

State Assembly Speaker and Democratic colleague Carl Heastie recalled Peralta's commitment to public schools, gun security and immigrant rights. "His voters have remained his priority," Heastie said in a statement, noting that Peralta was coordinating a flu vaccination clinic in his district and distributing Thanksgiving turkeys to the needy a few days earlier.

Cuomo negotiated an agreement earlier this year for the reunification of Democratic Senators, but six of the eight former IDC members were quickly ousted during the party primaries.

The survivors of Peralta include his wife and two sons.