Amid all the attention given to yesterday’s presidential primary election here in New York, very few outside of local political junkies may be aware that we had two significant local special elections as well. They filled the remainder of the terms of our former, disgraced State Senate and State Assembly leaders, Republican Dean Skelos and Democrat Sheldon Silver.
The State Assembly race was a clash of machine Democrats, with the local machine winning out over the carpetbagging machine’s candidate-from-another-county; I expect to tell you more about the race for that Assembly seat in the future, since we will have the opportunity to replace last night’s winner, Sheldon Silver’s anointed replacement, with a “better” Democrat. There will be regular elections for both these seats this November, along with the rest of the Assembly and Senate.
Today’s news, though, is that Skelos’ seat was won by a Democrat, Assembly member Todd Kaminsky, which gives the Democrats the majority in both houses. This could have massive, and positive, repercussions for our miserably-governed state, since the Republican-controlled Senate has obstructed more worthy legislative initiatives than I can list here. They have also provided cover for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s worst behavior; in return, he has done everything in his power to protect them.
Don’t start celebrating just yet, though. In true, dysfunctional NY fashion, our Democrats are so disunited that five opportunistic State Senators formed an Independent Caucus that votes with the Republicans. While they claim that they’re doing this to restore “good governance”, it’s really a power play. Now that the majority is back in Democratic hands, though, their desire to be “where the action is” may tempt them back into the fold.
But wait — there’s more! A sixth renegade Democrat, Simcha Felder, is a true DINO, a conservative who ran as a Democrat only because of the registration balance in his district. He will likely continue to caucus with the Republicans, giving them a functional one-vote majority.
The most important short-term question is, will any of these fine public servants deign to vote for their own Senate Majority Leader, and commit to the Democratic Caucus? I dunno! But we should have an answer shortly. Stay tuned, kids, for the next episode of “As the Senate Turns”.