Twice convicted ex-lawmaker runs again in Queens

Hiram Monserrate is once again running for City  Council. AP Photo/Mike Groll

By David Brand 

Twice convicted ex-lawmaker Hiram Monserrate is preparing yet another run for public office in Queens.

The former state senator and councilmember, convicted of misdemeanor assault after dragging his girlfriend through a parking lot and later sentenced to prison for steering public money into his campaign operation, has filed to run for City Council in District 21. 

The seat is held by incumbent Councilmember Francisco Moya, who beat Monserrate with about 56 percent of the vote in 2017.

Monserrate has remained active in local politics since completing his prison term. He won Democratic district leader races in 2018 and 2020 but lost the June 2020 primary election to veteran lawmaker Jeff Aubry in Assembly District 35. 

During that race, the Queens District Attorney’s Office reportedly opened an investigation into claims of election fraud by Monserrate’s campaign.

It wouldn’t be Monserrate’s first run-in with the law.

He was sentenced to two years in federal prison in 2012 after he funneled City Council money to a nonprofit and used the cash to fund his senate campaign. He was ordered to pay nearly $80,000 in restitution and paid the sum before the June 2020 primary.

Monserrate was also convicted of a separate domestic violence-related misdemeanor in 2009 after he cut his then-girlfriend in the face with a glass, dragged her to a car and drove her to a far-away hospital. He and his then-girlfriend said the gash she suffered was the result of an accident. He was expelled from the Senate.

“The rise and fall of Hiram Monserrate is like a movie,” Aubry told the Eagle last year.

Despite his past misdeeds, Monserrate maintains loyal support in the East Elmhurst Corona Democratic Club, one of Queens’ most active political organizations. He also leads a group known as the East Elmhurst Corona Alliance that recently organized a protest outside a Corona hotel housing homeless New Yorker. And he has been a vocal opponent of existing plans to develop Willets Point. 

Monserrate did not respond to a phone call seeking comment for this story.

Moya dismissed his opponent in a statement. 

“The community has rejected Hiram Monserrate four times and will do so again, not only because of how badly he has betrayed everyone's trust, but because we need real leadership to recover from this pandemic,” he said.

Two other candidates are also running in District 21: Social worker Ingrid Gomez and Talea Wufka.