Wow, this could have HUGE ramifications for redistricting. NYT reports:
ALBANY – Democrats appeared to have lost their majority in the New York State Senate on Monday, in a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for a party that has controlled the chamber for barely five months.
A raucous leadership fight erupted on the floor of the Senate around 3 p.m., with two Democrats, Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens, joining the 30 Senate Republicans in a motion that would displace Democrats as the party in control.
My cousin who lives in NYC says that the live TV feed of the floor was mysteriously shut off directly after the vote, so it looks like they’re playing some hardball up in Albany.
Currently, Dems control the state House by a 107-41 margin (that ain’t gonna change) and the governoship. New York is set to lose two of its 29 seats after redistricting, so if this balance holds, Democrats risk losing a seat in Congress.
Evan
12 June 2009 at 7:43 AM
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Reapportionment+is+right+around+the+corner.-a0197040515
features a more recent estimate indicating New York loses one seat and Florida gains one, rather than 2.
The takeover of the NY state senate hangs on one turncoat senator who is under indictment for assaulting a woman with glass and another who has faced repeated challenges over his use of public money for his “non-profit”.
The NY Senate has shown how sleazy some of its members really are. As a New Yorker, I hope that both parties do some housekeeping in the primaries next year. The swing members of this Senate are plainly for sale, and if control is split between our Dem House, a Rep Senate and a governor we elect next year, maybe the lines will be drawn by the courts. That would be better than letting Albany pols do it.
Anyway, whatever seat(s) we do lose will be upstate because that’s where our population is dropping. Districts have to be the same size, so expect LI to keep its four seats and NYC to see seats shuffle but not really change numbers.
I am a Democrat but both parties are sickening at the state level here in NY. This week has been an embarrassment.