Showdown in Albany: the month-long standoff in the New York Senate was one of the more unusual legislative spectacles in recent memory.

• Author: Liu, Irene Jay

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

When Democrats won control of the New York Senate last November after nearly 70 years in the minority, Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith triumphantly declared, "Today, change begins."

While few expected Republicans to go quietly into the minority, no one predicted a GOP-led leadership revolt.

On June 8, the chamber's 30 Republicans and two dissident Democrats staged a stunning coup, seized control of the Senate, and set off a summer stalemate that paralyzed the state's upper chamber for more than four weeks. Republican Senator Thomas Libous introduced a resolution electing Democratic Senator Pedro Espada as president pro tempore and Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos as Senate majority leader, ousting Queens Democrat Smith, who had been elected to both positions in January.

The insurgent coalition made its move with two weeks remaining on the legislative calendar, a session already beset by a billion-dollar budget deficit and bitter partisan strife.

Democrats scrambled to block the move, calling for the Senate to adjourn and filed out of the chamber. Staffers turned down the chamber lights and shut off microphones and television cameras.

The 30 Republicans and the two dissident Democrats--Espada from the Bronx and Senator Hiram Monserrate of Queens--voted to pass the resolution and a rules change that would establish more equality between the minority and majority parties in the Senate.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In the darkened chamber, Espada and Skelos were sworn into their new positions.

THE PLAYERS

The fight in New York came against a background of historic change. When Democrats took control of the Senate in November 2008, it was the first time since 1935 that the party had control of both legislative chambers and the governor's seat. Even so, the margin of control was only two votes, the same number the Republicans claimed before November's election.

Governor David Paterson only has been in office since the March 2008 resignation of Eliot Spitzer. That move left his previous post as lieutenant governor vacant and meant the president pro tempore of the Senate was next in line to be governor.

Even though the Democrats won control, it took them two months of internal maneuvering to agree on the leadership. Espada was one of the "Gang of Four" Democrats who withheld support of Smith shortly after the November election, imperiling Democrats' hold on the majority and delaying their transition for months

That was the backdrop for the coup, which was the brainchild of mercurial billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, founder of the payroll outsourcing firm Paychex and a three-time unsuccessful candidate for governor.

Golisano had spent millions of his fortune aiding the Democratic takeover of the Senate, only to be disappointed by Democrats' votes for the FY 2010 budget in April, which he felt did not cut spending enough and...