Now the New York State Senate is officially deadlocked.
After a week of flirting – and at one point it appeared committing to join the Republicans – Queens State Senator Hiram Monserrate is staying with the Democrats forcing the State Senate into an unprecedented 31 to 31 tie with no Lieutenant Governor to break the tie.
“I’m coming home,” Monserrate told the New York Daily News in an exclusive interview on Sunday, June 14.
Monserrate is set to hold a press conference in Albany on Monday, June 15 at 11:30 a.m. to announce his decision, according to one of his spokespersons.
One of the items that Monserrate was looking for was a leadership change amongst the Senate Democrats, and it appears that Brooklyn State Senator John Sampson will take over as head of the Senate Democratic Conference, replacing Queens Senator Malcolm Smith, who will retain the title of State Senate Democratic Leader for the time being, according to published reports.
“I said I wouldn’t return to the caucus without a leadership change among the Democrats, and that has happened,” Monserrate told the Daily News.
Meanwhile, both the Senate Democrats and Republicans are due in court on Monday at 9:30 to find out whom an upstate judge will side with regarding last week’s leadership vote.
In a move that sent shockwaves throughout New York State on Monday, June 8, that continued to reverberate for the next week, the Republicans appeared to have retaken control from the Democrats after only five months of Democratic rule. That afternoon, Democratic State Senators Hiram Monserrate from Queens and Pedro Espada Jr. from the Bronx announced that they would caucus with the Republicans, reversing the Democrats 32-30 majority and seemingly returning control to the Republicans.
Under the agreement, which many pundits are terming a coup, Long Island Republican Senator Dean Skelos would retake the Senate Majority Leader position while Espada Jr. would become the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
However, the Democrats sought an injunction and believe that the leadership coup was illegal because the session had been adjourned before a vote took place.
Meanwhile, in the days following Monserrate’s decision, many Democratic supporters including Reverend Al Sharpton, union officials and other supporters held a series of meetings with Monserrate urging him to go back to the Democrats.
