From the Times Herald-Record - State Sen. Thomas P. Morahan, R-C-New City, died Monday after a six-month battle with leukemia, according to spokesman Ron Levine.

Morahan, 78, died at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan at around 4:30 p.m. He died peacefully, surrounded by his family, Levine said.

Morahan represented all of Rockland County as well as the towns of Tuxedo and Warwick in Orange County. He served in the New York Senate for more than 11 years and had a reputation as a strong advocate for mental-health reform.

Morahan was one of only two Senate Republicans asked by the Democratic majority to resume his service as chairman of a committee this year. As chairman of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committee, he championed Timothy’s Law, a landmark piece of legislation that mandates mental health insurance parity in New York state. He was also co-chairman of the Senate’s Hudson Valley delegation.