A sweet moment from a Prop 8 protest in 2008 (Shield's flickr)

Since he took office, Governor Andrew Cuomo has been promising another vote in Albany on the hot-button issue of marriage equality and today that vote gets a step closer to a (victorious) reality. In a press conference Cuomo announced that three Democrat State Senators who previously voted against it now support gay marriage in New York State. An announcement that brought the total to 29 senators opposed, 27 in favor and six undecided.

At the conference, Cuomo announced that Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., Shirley L. Huntley of Queens and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn all now support the measure, but for different reasons. While Huntley and Addabbo said their minds had changed when they polled their constituents, Kruger's decision probably has more to do with that time when the Post all but outed him in March. Of course that isn't how he put it. Instead he said that this is about redefining “what the American family is. And that’s a good thing. The world around us evolves.”

But wait, that's not all! Quickly after Cuomo's conference Monroe County Republican James S. Alesi, who voted against the measure last time, came forward to say that “If the bill comes to the floor the way that I would like to see it, I will support it.” A development which moves the needle even closer towards marriage equality in the Empire state (here's more on the rest of the undecideds).

The issue now is getting the vote to the floor of the Senate before the end of the Legislative session next Monday. If it gets rushed through, which may require a message of necessity in order to bypass the required three-day waiting period for bills to age, a vote could come as early as Thursday.