Monserrate Sticks With Republicans
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- June
- 10
After a two-hour delay, Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, emerged with Sens. Pedro Espada and Dean Skelos to say he’s still sticking with the new Senate majority conference, despite questions about whether he would rejoin the Democratic conference.
“I am here to work with Dean Skelos and Pedro Espada for the good of the people of the state of New York,” Monserrate told the crush of media outside the Senate chambers.
Monserrate and Skelos said the delay in announcing the coalition was in order to see if other Democrats would join, and they said they would reconvene session tomorrow with hopes of getting more Democrats to come on board.
“Other Democrats who are considering coming into the coalition have asked him for 24 hours,” Skelos said. “And I think it’s an appropriate decision because it’s a tough decision for people to make.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are expected to huddle again tonight to consider their next move amid growing talk that Sen. John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, will be named the conference’s new leader.
Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-Mount Vernon, said she will support Sampson. She also had been approached about being leader, but turned it down. Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, is also being considered.
She said that after the coup, it’s time for a change in leadership.
“I don’t think you can think of a corporation or any organized body of people where a coup of this type takes place where anybody feels confident that the leadership in place is the leadership that can go forward,” she said.
Democrats are still hoping that they can sway Monserrate to return to the Democratic conference, in part by removing Malcolm Smith as its leader, which has been one of Monserrate’s conditions.
“We had hoped to convince him that as a Democrat he would stay with the conference,” Hassell-Thompson said. “But I think you heard from him on how he felt. He felt this was the best opportunity for the agenda he came to Albany to pursue.”
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 6:01 pm by Joseph Spector.
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Jeff Klein should be the next leader for the democrats in the senate. He can hold the dems in line.
Jeff Klein is just another bronx liberal…what needs
to happen is that enough democrats defect to the coalition
to legitimize it past the two democrats who have baggage
so that republicans can demonstrate that they truly have
stopped the practice of the leader calling the shots…maybe
then shelly silver will lose some of his luster as well
as the legislation in the senate becomes an up or down
situation with open and transparent debate unlike the
way it has been for years