Espada Flips Back to Democrats, Ends Senate Stalemate
Thursday, July 09, 2009
New York, NY –
A Democratic party official is confirming to the Associated Press what several publications have reported this afternoon - that dissident Democratic state senator Pedro Espada is flipping back to his party, after helping lead a Republican-dominated coup that has gridlocked New York's Senate for more than a month.
REPORTER: Espada's return would give Democrats a 32-30 majority for the first time since the June 8 coup.
At today's brief special senate session, Republican leader Dean Skelos stood his ground.
SKELOS: Despite some of the new news that's out there we don't move away form the vote that occurred on June 8th where a majority of this body voted to change leadership and elected Sen. Espada as temporary president of the senate and myself as majority, majority leader.
REPORTER: Skelos also claimed that Governor Paterson's appointment of a lieutenant governor to preside over the Senate was unconstitutional. The appointment's being challenged in court by Republicans.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.