Dean Skelos Will Be New Republican Leader in New York State Senate
ALBANY, NY (AP) -- Long Island Sen. Dean Skelos is expected to be elected leader of the Republican majority in the state Senate, two New York Republicans said Tuesday.
Under a deal worked out among GOP senators, the 79-year-old Bruno, who took control of the Senate in 1994, will step down immediately and serve at least some of the rest of his term as a rank-and-file legislator, the Republicans said. Sen. Thomas Libous of Binghamton - who was seen as a contender for the leader post - will be elected deputy majority leader.
The Republicans spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn't been publicly announced.
Bruno announced his retirement during a tumultuous time in his life. His wife of 50 years, Barbara, died in January and he has been under investigation by the FBI for more than a year in what appears to be a probe into his private business dealings.
While Bruno has a warm relationship with Gov. David Paterson, he had a famously tempestuous one with Paterson's scandal-tarred predecessor, Eliot Spitzer. Bruno pointedly noted in the prepared statement about his retirement that, "politics is a tough ball game. Tougher now than it has ever been.''
It will likely get tougher this fall. Senate Democrats have made electoral inroads in recent years and reduced the Republican majority to 32-30. Democrats are making a push for the majority this year.
In Skelos, 60, Republicans will get a veteran lawmaker from the party's Long Island power base. He wrote New York's Megan's Law, which created the New York State Sex Offender Registry.
Born, raised and educated in Nassau County's Rockville Centre, Skelos received a degree in history from Washington College in Maryland and a law degree in 1975 from Fordham University.
