Politics on the Hudson

A majority of New Yorkers said the Senate leadership fight is a “farce” and an “embarrassment” while 49 percent would prefer the Senate develops a bi-partisan coalition to solve the dispute, a poll today found.

As the Senate stalemate heads into its third week, 52 percent of New Yorkers call the squabbling an “embarrassment,” and 49 percent want it resolved through coalition leadership from both parties, a Siena College poll found. Thirty percent said Democrats should be in control, while 17 percent sided with Republicans.

“Democrats, Republicans and independent voters all strongly agree that the Senate fight is bad for New York and making it harder to enact critical legislation,” said Siena College poll spokesman Steven Greenberg.

Gov. David Paterson has sought to find compromise between the warring sides since the June 8 coup by Republicans and two Democrats voted out the Democratic majority, bringing Senate business to a halt. On Sunday the Democratic governor vowed to call a special session of the Senate every day starting Tuesday unless the sides reach a leadership agreement themselves.

But he has been rebuffed by Republicans and its Democratic leader, Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx. They claim the June 8 vote was legal; Democrats claim it wasn’t.

“By threatening to call a special session each day, the governor is attempting to dictate a solution on a separate branch of government,” Espada said in a statement. “Without resolving the legitimacy of the leadership of the Senate, that won’t work.”

The sides are expected to meet again to try to resolve the dispute. Today is officially the last day of the legislation session; the state Assembly plans to wrap up business today and head home, but the Senate says it will stay.

The flap has led 63 percent of New Yorkers to say that New York is headed in the wrong direction, the highest percentage Siena has found in its polls.

Moreover, all the players in the Senate fight had negative approval ratings, the poll said. Rochester-area billionaire Tom Golisano, who helped orchestra the coup, had the highest favorability rating among the leaders, with 30 percent favorability compared to 42 percent unfavorable among those who knew about the Senate fight.

The numbers were worse for others: Espada had 13 percent favorability rating, for example.
The Senate debate has shelved many issues from moving forward, including a bill to legalize same-sex marriages in New York. The Siena poll found by a 50 percent to 43 percent margin that New York support the legislation, up four percentage points from last month.

Paterson indicated Sunday that he would not push for a vote in the Senate on same-sex marriage, but later told the New York Times that he would seek a vote before the legislation session ends.

The poll showed that Paterson’s favorability rating, which has been at record lows, rose slightly to 31 percent, up four percentage points from last month.

The poll was conducted June 15-18 to 626 New York registered voters. It has a margin of error of
3.9 percentage points.

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