For many years, three names stood out as contenders to succeed Joseph Bruno at the helm of the Senate Republicans: Dean Skelos of Nassau County, Thomas Libous of Binghamton and Nick Spano of Westchester.
Today there are two. Last fall, Spano lost his re-election bid to Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
As before, many consider Skelos the favorite whenever the time comes. These days Bruno, 77, faces a federal investigation and oversees a shrinking majority.
In public, the GOP leadership has closed its ranks. Bruno, the majority leader; Libous, the assistant majority leader, and Skelos, the deputy majority leader, speak in harmony of fending off hospital cuts, preserving the suburbs' shares of school aid, and resuming property-tax rebates, all in defiance of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's budget proposal.
They work in tandem as their 33-member majority comes under verbal siege from Assembly Democrats, Senate Democrats, Spitzer, budget monitors, and even the Conservative Party.
But tensions persist. Stories whispered by Libous loyalists go back some time. There's the claim that Skelos had a hand in effectively reapportioning rival Spano out of his seat (Skelos' camp at one point showed colleagues data aimed at contesting this). There's grumbling, too, that Skelos failed to proclaim solidarity with Bruno when word broke of the federal probe. And, it was in Skelos' backyard last month that Democrat Craig Johnson won a long-standing GOP seat.
Dan Janison
Critics note how Libous has lost GOP seats on his own turf, such as that of ex-Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffmann of Syracuse. Skelos supporters also say combined opposition from Libous and Spano offered more of a challenge. They predict that Libous alone won't be able to muster much support.
Other, wild-card names also come up for majority leader - Martin Golden of Brooklyn and Vincent Leibell of Brewster among them. For now, though, Bruno expresses no interest in retiring - and a coup appears unlikely.
Comments (4)
Skelos, Libous, Liebell, Golden have not shown the spine that will be needed by the next Senate Majority Leader. Only one Senator has stood up and said that Bruno should step down.
John Bonacic from the Hudson Valley called for Bruno to step aside, and thus is the only one who will have credibility when Bruno is forced from his post.
If the recent belly flop by team Skelos in their own backyard during the recent 7th senate election is any indicator of things to come, then he should be a shoe in!
Many may not know, but Skelos was one of the few so called "big whigs" behind that terribly run campaign
Libous is a desperate person. Skelos has the votes to replace Bruno RIGHT NOW. But Dean knows that a unified front is needed in the budget fight. Look for the fun to really begin after session ends in July.
Senator Dean Skelos has plenty of options as do many of the NY State Senate delegation. My advice to the eight NY State Republican Senators is to consider running for Congress. To hell with Joe Bruno! Joe Bruno wants to die in office, then let him with a Democrat MAJORITY in the NY Senate!
Let the Democrats control all three branches of NY State Government. Remember when President Carter was in office and the Democrats were the majority in the Senate and House? It was awful!Does everyone get the picture? Watch Governor Spitzer get consumed by his own party of Silver and Company.
Can you imagine Skelos challenging U.S. Rep Carolyn McCarthy? I can.
How about State Senator John Flanagan vs. U.S. Rep Steve Bishop? Just think how many Republicans will look riding along likely Presidential candidate and former NYC Mayor Rudolph Guiliani?
Governor Spitzer is overreaching and playing politics with Long Island. Spitzer is seeking to reduce School aid to diminish Republicans lock on Long Island.
There are always unintended political consequences to poorly developed policy iniatives.
Skelos holds some excellent cards as do the other Republican New York State Senators. Nassau and Suffolk Counties combined are home to 3 million people which is more than the city of Chicago. Long Island requires strong representation and is far more important than Rensaellaer County or wherever Joe Bruno claims to be raising poinies these days.