Former State Senator Guy Velella, virtually the only Republican representing the borough at any level of government during his entire legislative career, died of lung cancer on Jan. 27 at the age of 66.

Following a 10-year stint in the state Assembly, Velella represented a large part of the east Bronx and sections of the northwest Bronx in the state Senate from 1986 to 2004, when he resigned after being accused of taking bribes from contractors. He later pleaded guilty and served half of a one-year prison sentence.

Velella was chair of the borough’s Republican Party in which he was the only elected official. He survived in a heavily-Democratic district where Republicans were only about a quarter of the electorate, by bringing home the bacon and forging a non-aggression pact with local Democrats.

He formed a nonprofit, North Bronx Westchester Restoration Association, which doled out state funds to other local nonprofits.

Velella, who lived in Morris Park, represented a part of Norwood before a redistricting that led to most of the northwest Bronx being included in a single Senate district – the 33rd. Assemblyman Jeffrey Klein succeeded Velella in the Senate.

Velella is survived by his wife, Patricia, five children and several grandchildren.