Bruno yesterday, with Governor David Paterson and House Majority Leader Sheldon Silver.Photo: AP
Seventy-nine-year old State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno announced late yesterday that he won’t run for reelection in the fall. “While there may never be a good time to make these kind of life decisions, I have decided it is time for me to move on with my life,” he said. He has been majority leader for thirteen years and recently lost his wife. His announcement comes in the midst of ongoing FBI investigations into his relationship with labor unions which invest in a Connecticut firm where Bruno is a consultant. But regardless of why Bruno is stepping down, Democrats are already claiming victory for November. Going into the elections, the Republicans hold only a two-vote majority in the State Senate, and many assume that other older Republican representatives will follow Bruno into retirement. “It’s over,” one liberal lawmaker told the Daily News. “He was the center,” Assemblyman Michael Benjamin said to the Times. “And when the center falls, everything falls apart.” For more on Joe Bruno’s last year, check out Geoffrey Gray’s March profile on him.
Top Senator in New York Won’t Seek Re-election [NYT]
Related: The Un-Reformed [NYM]
