Democrats Grab State Senate

In a stunning realignment of the political status quo in Albany, Democrats have gained control of the State Senate for the first time in 43 years.

With all but one of the 62 Senate races decided, Democrats now control at least 32 seats in the Legislature's upper chamber, while Republicans will have at least 29. Democrats already control the State Assembly and the governorship.

With a working Democratic majority in the Senate, several initiatives benefiting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community - a marriage equality bill, a transgender rights measure, and a public school anti-bullying law that includes protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity - each already passed by the Assembly and supported by Governor David Paterson, but stalled in the Senate by GOP resistance, will now likely be considered.

"My reaction is that we promised two things as we headed into this election," said Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA), New York's LGBT rights lobby. "That every member of the Assembly who supported marriage equality, transgender rights, and school bullying legislation would win reelection, and that happened, and that we would help deliver two State Senate district seats."

A year ago, ESPA, which on occasion in the past has drawn fire for its bipartisan approach to lobbying and endorsements from gay advocates working within the Democratic Party, concluded that the GOP Senate leadership was no longer willing to take up significant pieces of LGBT rights legislation. Between 2000 and 2002, the Republicans finally allowed passage of hate crimes and sexual orientation non-discrimination laws.

The Democratic pick-ups came in Senate District 3 in Suffolk County and District 15 in Queens.

In a western Queens district that runs from Howard Beach to Maspeth, Democratic City Councilman Joseph Addabbo swept to a surprisingly easy victory over 20-year GOP incumbent Serphin Maltese, a sponsor of a state Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a proposal that has gone nowhere in Albany. Addabbo had a 15-percent edge in that race.

A pro-LGBT vote in his years on the Council, Addabbo said he supports the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), which would provide transgender civil rights protections, and the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), the anti-bullying measure, but has not taken a position on the marriage equality bill. Endorsing Addabbo, ESPA stated, "he is not opposed to marriage for same-sex couples and is committed to working with the Pride Agenda and the LGBT community to continue learning about this issue."

In Suffolk County, Democrat Brian X. Foley, the Brookhaven town supervisor and a former county legislator, beat 36-year GOP incumbent Caesar Trunzo, another DOMA sponsor. There, the spread was more than 17 percent. ESPA endorsed Foley, who, like Addabbo, has a gay-friendly record, but has committed to no more on marriage than keeping an open mind.

The undecided race is in Queens' District 11, where incumbent Frank Padavan, first elected in 1972, holds a lead of just over 700 votes over James Gennaro, a member of the City Council. Padavan is also a DOMA sponsor and voted against the 2002 gay rights law in Albany. A recount is expected in the race.

Gennaro was not widely seen as posing a real challenge to Padavan and received little support from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, in stark contrast to Addabbo and Foley, each of whom received hundreds of thousands of dollars. ESPA endorsed Gennaro, but made no financial contribution, while donating $8,000 each to Addabbo and Foley, close to the maximum allowed under campaign finance law.

Democratic non-incumbents in competitive races who were also supported by ESPA endorsements, and in some cases financial contributions, but fell short included Kristen McElroy in Nassau County, Joseph Mesi in Erie and Genesee Counties east of Buffalo, and Richard Dollinger and David Nachbar, both in the Rochester area.

Two Democrats, neither of whom supports marriage equality, staved off tough challenges - William Stachowski in Buffalo and Darrel Aubertine in a Lake Ontario district centered in Watertown.

In Nassau County, marriage equality supporter Craig Johnson, a Democrat sent to Albany in a special election in early 2007, won a comfortable victory, and in Lower Manhattan/ Brownstone Brooklyn's District 25, Daniel Squadron, a pro-marriage equality Democrat who knocked off incumbent Democrat Martin Connor in the September primary, racked up more than 85 percent of the vote against John Chromczak, an out gay Republican.

Malcolm Smith, the Queens Democrat who will be the new majority leader, appeared at ESPA's annual Manhattan Fall Dinner last October and enthusiastically pledged to "forward" the marriage equality bill on "the first day of our session," and to put it at "the top of the list" when discussing agenda items with the governor. In the current Senate, there are 21 members who have signaled support for marriage equality, all of them Democrats, but there are also six Democrats who have stated their opposition, including Ruben Diaz, Sr. of the Bronx, who is a harsh foe of the LGBT community.

Unless Gennaro wins the 11th District seat in a recount, no net gain in public marriage equality supporters comes from this election, and one current supporter - Efrain Gonzalez, Jr., of the Bronx - was defeated in the September primary by Pedro Espada, Jr., whose views on marriage equality are not known. It is clear, then, that Smith, in steering the bill to passage in the Senate, would have to rely on some GOP votes.

On Election Night, both Van Capelle and Senator Thomas K. Duane, an out gay Chelsea Democrat who is the lead sponsor of the marriage equality bill, noted that no gay rights legislation has passed in Albany without bipartisan support.

"Now that we are in the majority, some Republicans will follow our lead," Duane said.

Asked whether the Pride Agenda might find a chilly reception among Senate Republicans after the group's push for a Democratic flip of the chamber, Van Capelle said, "Look, we're going to have to have conversations with a lot of people. No bill passes without both parties."

Van Capelle called the apparent passage of an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment in California "sad," but predicted, "It will have virtually no political impact on our ability to win marriage in New York State."

Both Van Capelle and Duane also dismissed talk that a small number of conservative Democrats, including Diaz, might be looking at the possibility of switching their party affiliation to keep the Republicans in control of the Senate. Asked if he worried about that possibility, Van Capelle said, "Not at all."

But, the day after the election, the Buffalo News reported that a "Gang of Four" Democrats - including Diaz, Espada, Brooklyn's Carl Kruger, and Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate of Queens - were skipping a meeting of Senate Democrats Smith called in Albany that day and instead caucusing among themselves, making no commitments on which party to support for the majority leadership. Of the four, only Monserrate is a marriage equality supporter.