Republicans keep power for O.C. Legislature chair
By Brendan Scott
Times Herald-Record
bscott@th-record.comGoshen - Orange County's newly empowered Democratic minority walked into the Government Center yesterday poised to achieve the unthinkable.
By forging an alliance with a pair of maverick Republicans, the 10 Democrats were set to win unprecedented influence in the 21-seat Legislature and rewrite the rules that have governed Orange County politics for decades.
But, in the end, the Democrats were unable to overcome rifts within their own ranks before the much-anticipated vote for Legislature chairman.
Talk of coalitions evaporated. Deals collapsed at the last possible minute. After weeks of intense powerbrokering, all 11 Republicans put aside their differences and elevated their Majority Leader, M. William Lahey of New Windsor, to the Legislature's most powerful post.
In taking the chairman's seat, the three-term Republican and former Democrat promised some power-sharing with the growing minority. Democratic lawmakers, however, could not hide their disappointment.
"We had an opportunity as a Democratic caucus to manifest some real power in this Legislature," said Harvey Burger, D-Newburgh. "We goofed. Our caucus couldn't get together."
For weeks, Spencer McLaughlin, R-Monroe, had been considered the lawmaker most likely to succeed former Chairman Alan Seidman, R-Salisbury Mills, who gave up the leadership post to spend more time with his family.
But McLaughlin's prospects faltered when Democrats picked up two seats in November and Legislator Frank Fornario, R-Blooming Grove, entered the race. That kicked off jockeying for the 10 Democratic votes, with each candidate promising key leadership positions to the long-disenfranchised minority.
Most Democrats lined up behind Fornario, whom they believed would run a more bipartisan government. But a small faction, led by Legislator Jeffrey Berkman, D-Middletown, argued for McLaughlin's appointment.
Moments before the vote, it became clear neither candidate had enough votes to win. In an emergency closed-door caucus, McLaughlin and Fornario pulled out, and the Republicans selected Lahey as a compromise.
The Democrats nominated Legislator Roxanne Donnery, D-Highland Falls, who lost in an 11-10 vote.
In taking the podium, Lahey asked for an end to partisanship and pledged "conciliatory kinds of things" in the future. The Republicans are expected to give Democrats leadership of two of the Legislature's standing committees.
"Eleven to 10 was nice today. I understand it," Lahey said. "I would hope that somehow we move ahead of that.