NEW YORK
New York Times
By VIVIAN WANG
APRIL 25, 2018
ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Wednesday sent a strongly worded letter to Senator Simcha Felder, the lone legislator preventing Democrats from regaining control of the State Senate, warning that his unique influence in Albany might not last past the November elections.
“Let me say that the Democratic conference will not need you in November the way they need you now,” the governor wrote. “I believe there will be additional Democrats who win and are seated for the next Legislature. You have said that you act in the best interest of your constituents. For their benefit, now is the time that matters.”
Mr. Felder, a Democrat who represents a large Orthodox Jewish population in Brooklyn, has long embodied some of the perplexing horse-trading and politicking that are hallmarks of Albany. Because he caucuses with the Republicans, Mr. Felder has helped to give the Senate Republicans control of the chamber, even though the Democrats now hold a majority on paper.
Mr. Felder, who crossed party lines just days after he was elected in 2012, was not the only Democrat to stray. The Independent Democratic Conference, a group of renegade Democrats who collaborated with the Republicans, also helped to wrest control from the mainline Democrats.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.