by Karl Kurtz
In a surprise move this afternoon, two dissident members of the New York Senate Democratic caucus joined with Republicans to form a 32-30 majority and elect new leaders. One of the dissidents, Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr., was elected president pro tem, and Republican leader Sen. Dean Skelos (photo) was elected majority leader. This duo replaced Democrat Sen. Malcolm Smith who has held both offices combined, as has been the practice in New York for decades, since January of this year. In rules changes immediately approved by the Senate and announced by Sen. Skelos, the majority leader will retain the bulk of the power.
Sen. Smith disputes the legality of the Republican coup and maintains that he is still the majority leader and president pro tem. Stay tuned for the next episode.
June 9 update: The Senate chamber was locked last night by Secretary of the Senate Angelo Aponte. He and the sergeant-at-arms, who reports to him, are the only ones who have keys. Sen. Smith says that under Senate rules the majority leader/pro tem is elected for a two-year term and that the action to replace him took place after the session had adjourned. Republicans and Sen. Espada disagree.
You can find details in The New York Times, Capitol Confidential and The Daily Politics.
We have already received a question as to what other state legislatures have had mid-session coups for reasons other than scandal or voluntary resignation of a top leader. The nearest analogy that I can think of off the top of my head is the series of coups and coalitions that took place in the California Assembly in 1995, which resulted in Assemblymembers Willie Brown (a Democrat), Doris Allen, Brian Sentencich and Curt Pringle (all Republicans) all holding the position of speaker in the course of a single year. Willie Brown played the role of Dean Skelos in that soap opera, managing to control a chamber when the other party was in the majority.
Readers, please weigh in if you have other examples of mid-session leadership changes for non-scandal/indictment reasons.
If this situation holds in New York, it will become the sixth legislative chamber in which a coalition rules.
I've seen the Washington State Senate taken over for a short period of time (minutes), but the majority leadership stayed in place. It was a 25D-24R majority that had its agenda temporarily scuttled when one of the Ds voted with the Rs. This happened while the Senate was in the 9th order (Motions) which, for all practical purposes, is where the minority goes when they want to wreck havoc with the majority's plans, no matter which party is in control.
Posted by: John T. | June 09, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Kentucky, in 1997
Posted by: lh | June 10, 2009 at 11:45 AM