New York Senate coup puts same-sex marriage bill in doubt
In a stunning reversal of fortunes for New York Democrats… two Democratic Senators have defected, and allowed Senate Republicans to stage a coup, seizing control of the New York State Senate.
This turn of events puts the future of Marriage Equality in the Empire State in serious jeopardy.
The New York Times is reporting that a boisterous leadership fight exploded on the floor of the Senate around 3 p.m., when two Democrats, Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens, joined the 30 Senate Republicans in a motion that would displace Democrats as the party in control
In a statement emailed to reporters at 3:20 PM, Senate Republicans quickly claimed that they were on the verge of controlling the chamber.
As the events unfolded on the floor, Democratic Senate leader Malcolm A. Smith of Queens, consulted with his staff in the hall just off the Senate chamber. When asked what was occurring, he responded, “I’m trying to find out right now.”
It was not immediately clear why Espada and Monserrate suddenly defected; however it is known both men are under investigation by the authorities. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office is investigating a health care agency, Soundview HealthCare Network that Espada ran until recently and Monserrate is under indictment on felony assault charges stemming from an attack in March on his companion.
It was also not immediately evident whether the marriage equality legislation played any role in the leadership dispute, but it has been source of contention among Senate Democrats recently. Senator Rubén Díaz Jr., a Democrat from the Bronx, has been outspoken in his insistence that the legislation allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry not be allowed to come to a vote. Some had speculated he might leave the Democratic Party if Mr. Smith were to allow a vote, however Diaz did not join Mr. Espada and Mr. Monserrate in the leadership vote.
If Republicans are indeed back in control, it seems very unlikely that a Republican-controlled NY Senate will allow the marriage bill, that has already been approved by the New York State Assembly to come up for a vote before the current legislative session ends on June 22nd.
Please see the related article in the New York Times: Republicans seize Control of Senate.
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- A coup in the NY State Senate: Two Dems. defected, turning control back to GOP. This has major implications for marriage equality in New York. (americablog.com)
- City Room: Revolt Could Imperil Democratic Control of New York Senate (cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Democrats Face Revolt in Albany (politicalwire.com)
- A Coup in Albany (mydd.com)
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Now the media is also calling it a “coup”. Way to confirm your bias that you so strongly deny.
Because this changed the power structure in the Senate, it is called a parliamentary coup. Any time that the power structure is changed, it is called a coup d’etat, or blow to ‘the’ state. A parliamentary coup is one that is done through parliamentary procedures, which this was. When Spector changed parties, that did not change the power base. When Jim Jeffords defected from the Republicans, that was a parliamentary coup.
When Arlen Specter jumped to the Democratic Party, it wasn’t really “big news” or a “coup” because it didn’t make a major dent for the Democrats as they already had the majority by a fairly respectable margin of numbers. Plus Specter was a Democrat before. This is considered a “coup” because by these two “Democrats” leaving, they have changed the power spectrum putting all Democratic measures in jepoardy. Instead of attempting to work their concerns into legislation and lobbying those in their own party, they jumped ship. Specter on the other hand knows that there was no way he could convince the entire Republican Party to move away from a far-right ideology that has cost them the Senate and White House and into a logical party that has room for moderates and politically diverse thoughts. And although I’m sure that Specter gained something from his jump, these two “Democrats” are both under suspicion and their careers have been damaged by it. I’m sure they jumped for greater gains than Specter worked in for himself (or Reid had worked in for him).