2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis information
2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis
Hiram Monserrate and Malcolm Smith during the crisis
Date
June 8 – July 9, 2009 (2009-06-08 – 2009-07-09)
Location
Albany, New York
Cause
Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada Jr. joining Republicans to oust Leader Malcolm Smith
Resignation of Eliot Spitzer
Outcome
Smith remains leader. Richard Ravitch becomes Lieutentant Governor
The New York State Capitol
The 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis was a political dispute and constitutional crisis that prevented the New York State Senate from functioning for a month.
In 2009, the State Senate was controlled by Democrats with a narrow 32–30 majority. On June 8, 2009, a coalition of all 30 Senate Republicans and two Democrats, Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada Jr., voted to replace Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith with then-Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos. The coalition appeared to have gained control of the Senate in a move that was described as a political coup. However, on June 15, Monserrate left the coalition and returned to the Democrats' side. The result was a 31–31 tie in the Senate. Upon the March 17, 2008 resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer following a sex scandal, then-Lieutenant Governor David Paterson had been sworn in as Governor of New York; this left the position of Lieutenant Governor vacant. The absence of a Lieutenant Governor (whose duties include serving as President of the Senate) left no apparent way to break the 31–31 deadlock; therefore, the Senate was unable to conduct business. Governor Paterson attempted to pressure the Senate into action by withholding their salaries and convening mandatory special Senate sessions, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
On July 8, Governor Paterson appointed Richard Ravitch as Lieutenant Governor in an effort to break the Senate deadlock. However, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo argued that the appointment was illegal. The next day, Espada announced that he was returning to the Democrats, giving them a 32–30 majority once more and effectively ending the crisis; following this move, Espada was given the title of Senate Majority Leader, while Smith remained Temporary President of the Senate. The appointment of Ravitch as Lieutenant Governor was eventually upheld by the New York Court of Appeals.
and 17 Related for: 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis information
Republicans in a change of leadership which triggered the 2009NewYorkStateSenateleadershipcrisis. Ravitch was appointed on July 8, 2009, but the appointment...
Conference. Following the 2009NewYorkStateSenateLeadershipCrisis the IDC formed a coalition government with then NewYorkSenate Republican leader Dean...
trifecta in the state for the first time since 1935. 2009NewYorkStateSenateleadershipcrisisNewYorkstate elections "2008 NewYorkState Primary Election...
Paterson's governorship, in Albany. On June 8, 2009, began the 2009NewYorkStateSenateleadershipcrisis. The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous...
Golisano took partial credit for creating the 2009 New York State Senateleadershipcrisis in which Republicans temporarily seized control of a body that...
for November, the crisis became enmeshed in American politics. On 31 August, Senator Kenneth Keating (R-NewYork) warned on the Senate floor that the Soviet...
NewYork, often called NewYork City or simply NYC, is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of NewYorkState on one...
vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009. Born in Scranton,...
United States senator. Due to the ongoing leadershipcrisis in the NewYorkStateSenate, in which the Senate tied with 31 Democratic votes and 31 Republican...
Capital District. 2009NewYorkStateSenateleadershipcrisis Challenge for Incumbent Kenneth C. Crowe II, "McDonald tops Russo in 43rd Senate race: Incumbents...
responsible for public transportation in the NewYork City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of NewYork. The MTA is the largest public transit authority...
politician who served in the NewYorkStateSenate from 2009 until his expulsion in 2010. A Democrat, he previously served on the NewYork City Council from 2002...
States Senate career of Hillary Rodham Clinton began when she defeated Republican Rick Lazio in the 2000 United States Senate election in NewYork. She...
(2019–present) Rob Ortt, Minority Leader of the NewYorkSenate (2020–present) and Member of the NewYorkSenate from the 62nd district (2015–present) Danny...
Global Information
