Skelos, On Life In the Minority
-
- January
- 7
Newly elected Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, struck a concillatory tone this afternoon after the GOP lost the leadership vote to Democrats, giving Democrats their first majority in the chamber since 1965.
But he also cautioned Democrats that life will be a lot different in the majority then the minority. And he pointed out that Democrats hold only a 32-30 seat edge, meaning Republicans will likely have major influence.
“I can guarantee you that there are more factions with the Democratic conference than there are within our conference,” he said. “They have a lot to learn about governing. We’ve been doing it for years. They are going to learn that they are going to have to take some very difficult votes. We’ll see how it works out: 32 to 30.”
Asked what was going through his mind as Democrats on the Senate floor voted to pick Malcolm Smith as majority leader, Skelos responded, “I reflected upon the fact, the last time it happened, it lasted for one year.”
In 1966, Republicans regained control and had held it ever since.
Skelos added that Smith now has to live up to the reform message that he pushed during last year’s bruising campaigns.
“Malcolm Smith’s campaign was about reform, about equalizing resources, about bills coming to the floor whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, and we’ll see. Hold him to his word,” he said.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 6:06 pm by Joseph Spector.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
| 
Email This
Mr. Skelos will have to get use to being in the minority for a very long time. The 32 to 30 split will widen in the coming years. The trend in this State for the past 20 plus years is unmistakable: Democrats have been picking up seats in the State Assembly and State Senate at the expense of the Republican Party. Sheldon Silver has a supper majority in the Assembly where Republicans have been irrelevant for years. Once a seat is taken over by a Democrat it’s over; Republican never recapture it later.
The Democratic party gets a free ride in the four boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx) every election cycle in which Republicans are virtually shut out. As long this is the case, they have no chance of recapturing the State Senate or Assembly for that matter.
In a matter of years the Democratic Party edge in the Senate will grow to 34, 36, 38, 40 to 22. The edge they enjoy in the State Assembly will increase as well. The Massachusetts-ization of this State is at hand. Get use to it!