Peter A. Peyser, New York congressman who switched parties, dies at 93
Peter A. Peyser, a five-term New York congressman who was first elected as a Republican in 1970 before switching parties and later serving two terms in the House of Representatives as a Democrat, died at his home in Irvington, New York. He was 93. Credit: AP
Peter A. Peyser, a five-term New York congressman who was first elected as a Republican in 1970 before switching parties and later serving two terms in the House of Representatives as a Democrat, died Thursday at his home in Irvington, New York. He was 93.
He had complications from Parkinson's disease, said a daughter, actress and filmmaker Penny Peyser.
Peter Peyser was a decorated World War II veteran who worked as a life insurance executive before entering local politics in Westchester County. He was elected mayor of the affluent suburb of Irvington in 1962 and was part of a progressive wing of the Republican Party associated with Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.
After eight years as mayor, Peyser was elected to the House of Representatives in 1970. His primary legislative interests included expanding the student-loan program and increasing support for education.
He was in his third term in Congress when he challenged incumbent Sen. James Buckley (R-N.Y.) for the nomination in 1976. He ran as a moderate against Buckley, the brother of William F. Buckley, the founder of the conservative political journal National Review. Peyser lost in the primary, but Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan defeated Buckley in the general election.
The socially liberal Peyser then changed his party affiliation, believing that the Republican Party was growing too conservative. Running as a Democrat, he won his old House seat in 1978 and was re-elected two years later.
Peyser served on the House Agriculture Committee and became an outspoken opponent of federal price-support programs for growers of sugar, tobacco and peanuts.
He often clashed with conservative members of Congress who said they wanted to cut government spending but who supported giving millions of dollars in federal crop subsidies to influential farm interests.
"Those agriculture bills used to pass the House without question," Peyser told The New York Times in 1982. "Not until I began looking into this was there a great public awareness about this issue."
The boundaries of Peyser's district were redrawn before the 1982 election, and he lost his re-election bid to Benjamin Gilman, a Republican.
Peter A. Peyser was born in Cedarhurst on Sept. 7, 1921. (His middle initial did not signify a name.) His father was an insurance executive. During World War II, Peyser served in an Army infantry unit and took part in the Battle of the Bulge and the battles of Hurtgen Forest and Remagen. He received the Bronze Star Medal and later commanded a National Guard unit in New York.
Survivors include his wife of 64 years, Marguerite Richards Peyser of Irvington; five children, Penny Peyser of Los Angeles, Safi Abheeti of Novato, California, Peter Peyser of New York City, James Peyser of Boston and Thomas Peyser of Richmond, Virginia; and five grandchildren.
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