Assemblyman Jose Peralta has won Tuesday’s special election for the 13th State Senate District.

With 97 of 158 precincts reporting, Peralta maintained a solid lead with 65 percent of the vote.

“Tonight we put an end to dysfunction, to divisiveness, to disappointment. Our nightmare is over. A new day has begun,” said Peralta during his victory speech.

Peralta will now represent parts of Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Corona.

It was a heated race between Peralta and his main challenger, former State Senator Hiram Monserrate who ran as an Independent hoping to win back his old seat.

Monserrate was expelled from the senate last month following a misdemeanor assault conviction.

During his concession speech, the embattled politician thanked his supports and acknowledged it was an uphill battle.

“We took on the entire political establishment of the State of New York; every single labor union, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars with an army of hard working average New Yorkers from the great borough of Queens,” Monserrate said. “It is indisputable that from the very beginning, this was a battle of Goliath proportions against us.”

Lost in the shuffle was Republican Robert Beltrani. An Administrative Law Judge, Beltrani billed himself as a political outsider who was not caught up in the dysfunction of Albany.

(Source: http://www.ny1.com/)