To bookend a week that began with a coup in Albany which stripped the Senate Democrats of their majority, Senate Dems met to discuss their leadership and future. And while former Senate majority leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) refused to answer reporters' questions about whether he still headed the Democratic conference, the Democrats apparently told Smith that he's out and that Senator John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) will be the "conference's de facto boss."
According to the Daily News, "The senators gave Smith the bad news that his resignation as leader is the only way to get one of the two renegades, Sen. Hiram Monserrate, back into the fold." (Monserrate and Pedro Espada Jr., both Democrats, joined the Republicans to overthrow the Democrats' majority.) One senator told the News, "If Monserrate comes back in, Malcolm will be out," while a labor source said, "He'll be gone. [We're] working through parameters, timing, etc."
The Post says that Sampson has "ties" to Monserrate, hence the apparent allegiance—Monserrate called him a "breath of fresh air" on NY1. But, since Smith's lawsuit against the Republican coup argues that he was elected to a two-year term as Senate president and cannot be removed in such a way, a source says, "They have to figure out a way to finesse that without compromising the lawsuit. doesn't do them any good to have Smith out if it hurts the case." In other words, to no one's surprise, it's a total clusterfuck! But it might be amazing if Sampson becomes Senate majority leader—who else can boast about having Foxy Brown as a client?
Monserrate wasn't at the meeting, but he and Smith did see each other at a meeting of the Senate Puerto Rican/Latino Caucus. Per the Post, "Smith shook hands with his cross-borough rival, but Monserrate avoided eye contact in the exchange."
