So now the Democrats are trying to take out the Democrats.
State Party executive director Charlie King says State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada must go. And despite a razor-thin majority in the State Senate, King hopes it’s goodbye and good riddance. “At some point you have say ‘that’s it, enough.’”
“Enough” is a long time in coming for a party that had no problem making a deal with Espada last year in order to prevent a coup that froze everything in Albany. Espada jumped to the Republicans last year, but then jumped back to the Democrats when they made a better offer.
Now, King, who became executive director of the party with the backing of Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo, says things are different in the “new Democratic party.”
Cuomo is investigating Espada for allegedly “looting $14 million” from his Soundview medical facility in the Bronx. It’s quite possible that Espada could be indicted in the coming months. It would be much better for the party that if/or when that happens, he no longer has the Majority Leader title.
Democrats may be taking a political chance by dumping Espada. He, like everyone in both Legislatures, is running for re-election. And he is facing a challenge from two Bronx Democrats. If he defeats them in a low-turnout primary, he will likely retain his seat. And after they presumably throw him out, that will be one less vote for Democrats, who now have a one-seat majority. Democrats are already worried about getting clobbered at the polls.
Espada will likely not go down without a fight. First, Bronx Democrats have to vote to oust him. Then Espada can take the case to court.
In the meantime, his allies are already rallying around him. State Senator Ruben Diaz finds it strange that, of all the people being investigated in the Legislature and other areas of government, only a Hispanic man is being singled out by the party (and he adds that another man of Latin heritage, Hiram Monserrate, was booted out of the Senate after a conviction of misdemeanor assault).
It’s certainly not clear that, as Diaz suggests, there is a vast conspiracy against Latin politicians. But it does seem that the future of Pedro Espada is very much in doubt.
