Dems retake control of the Senate

When the results came in on election night, the Democrats regained total control of Albany taking back the State Senate majority from the Republicans for the first time since 1965.
Heading into the election, the Senate Republicans held a slim 31-29 majority, but Democrats picked up at least three seats including the one where City Councilmember Joseph Addabbo defeated Serphin Maltese.
“Today, New Yorkers made history, electing a Democratic Majority to the State Senate for the first time in nearly 40 years,” said Queens State Senator and Democratic Minority leader Malcolm Smith. “Today, change begins.”
Addabbo handily defeated Maltese by a 57 to 43 percent margin in a heated and hotly contested campaign.
“We have heard it so often that there is dysfunction that goes on in Albany, and now we are going to work on getting rid of that label and making the government more accountable,” Addabbo said.
The other Queens State Senate race that garnered a significant amount of attention remains too close to call as Republican incumbent Frank Padavan is clinging to a less than 750-vote lead out of more than 83,000 votes cast on election night over Democratic challenger City Councilmember James Gennaro. It is unclear when the results from this race could become official.
Smith, who is the current Senate Minority Leader, could become the new Majority Leader in January when the Senate Conference convenes to select new leaders, although recent reports showed that he could face a challenge from Bronx Senator Jeff Klein for the seat. Still, Smith wasted little time in talking about the future of New York under new Democratic leadership in the State Senate.
“There is much at stake for New York families and we are committed to delivering for the people of this great state without the excessive partisanship that has stalled progress in Albany,” Smith said. “We will rebuild New York’s economy, protect middle income families, get New York working again, and make government more accountable.”
Meanwhile, Republican Senate Majority Leader, Long Island Senator Dean Skelos, tried to put some positive spin on what happened during a night that saw Democratic Senator Barack Obama win a decisive victory over Republican Senator John McCain in the presidential election.
“Tonight, our nation and our state witnessed a presidential landslide of overwhelming proportions,” Skelos said. “The fact that the Senate Republicans maintained so many seats against such tremendous odds is a testament to the hard work of our incumbents and candidates, and to the importance of the issues they’ve fought for on behalf of the people of this state.”