Over the weekend, state GOP leaders were staunchly optimistic when speaking with the Times about their chances to maintain control of the Senate. “I’m confident we’re going to be victorious, and I’m not thinking about ‘what if,’” Senator Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. of Long Island told the paper. Al D’Amato also said he was “convinced” the Republicans would retain their majority. Yet poll numbers today in both the Post and Daily News had grim tidings. If voters turn out in accordance with a Siena College poll released over the weekend, the Democrats will be in control after Wednesday. Four state races have turned in their favor, more than enough to overcome the narrow 31–29 majority enjoyed by the GOP. That would break the party’s 43-year control of the Senate and give Dems full control of the state government.
But this isn’t necessarily great news for the entire party leadership. Reports in both tabloids have Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, a friend and ally of Governor David Paterson, treading on thin ice going into election day. Both Elizabeth Benjamin and Frederic U. Dicker predict a coup attempt by his second-in-command, Bronx senator Jeff Klein.
DEMS TO SNAG STATE SENATE [NYP]
Control of State Senate in Dems’ Grasp [NYDN]
Election May be a Lose-Lose for Malcolm Smith [NYDN]
DEM BIDS TO DUMP MALCOLM [NYP]
