Deal to End Senate Rift May Give Democrats Full Control in Albany (NY)

Source: NYT

A group of independent Democrats who share control of the New York State Senate with Republicans agreed on Wednesday to reunite with their fellow Democrats, a move that could shift the balance of power in Albany.

The reconciliation, which was brokered in part by Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City and would take effect after the elections in November, could leave Democrats in full control of the state government as soon as early next year.

Mr. de Blasio, whose attempt to raise taxes on the wealthy was impeded by Senate Republicans this year, had set his sights on flipping the Senate, a move he hoped would pave the way for the city to carry out a liberal policy agenda.

But achieving the agreement required pressure from across New York politics. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the leaders of some of the state’s most powerful labor unions banded together with the mayor in an effort to tilt the Senate into Democratic hands, urging Senator Jeffrey D. Klein of the Bronx, the leader of the independent Democrats, to abandon his coalition with the Republicans.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/nyregion/breakaway-faction-to-rejoin-fellow-democrats-in-new-york-senate.html