Leaders of New York’s Democratic Party recently asked the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference in the state Senate to reunite with the mainstream Democrats. Governor Andrew Cuomo is now backing reunification, which likely would not occur until at least after the budget session. WAMC’s Allison Dunne spoke with one of the IDC’s eight members.
State Senator David Carlucci, who represents portions of Rockland and Westchester Counties, says he would like to work toward a Democratic majority, pointing out the Republicans do have the majority, without the IDC.
“I think we have to be independent, particularly in this time of hyper-partisanship where we’ve got to say, hey, who are the dually elected people in the state Senate and, who that is, I’m going to work with,” Carlucci says. “Would I prefer a Democratic majority? Yes. Am I going to work towards a Democratic majority? Yes. But, in the meantime, we’ve got to get down to governing. We’ve got to be more concerned about the next generation instead of the next election.”
Two Senate Democrats, including Westchester County Executive-elect George Latimer, are leaving at the end of the year.
