Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle has taken himself out of the running for the speaker position.
Morelle is instead throwing his support behind Assembly member Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat who is now the front-runner for the job. Throughout the week, Heastie has had growing support within the Assembly’s Democratic conference, and has also picked up the support of some influential New York City party leaders. Morelle released the following statement this morning:
“Over the past several days Assemblyman Heastie and I have discussed at length how to advance the best interests of the citizens of our state by making the New York Assembly more inclusive and member-driven. Carl and I have served together and have been close friends for 15 years. I have the utmost confidence in his ability to unite our members and move the institution forward. He will have my full support.
“I am incredibly grateful to the members of our conference for their ongoing friendship and support throughout this process. United and working together we continue to address the pressing challenges facing New York. It is this commitment that will guide our work over the coming year and inspire us to even greater heights.”
Last week, the US Attorney’s Office filed five corruption-related charges against Speaker Sheldon Silver, who has said he’ll be vindicated in court. Initially, Assembly Democrats stood behind Silver, but after a pair of meetings earlier this week they said they’d replace him. Silver has said he won’t stand in the way of the effort to elect a new speaker.
Morelle is set to take over as interim speaker on Monday, and the Democrats plan to vote for a permanent speaker on February 10. Aside from Heastie, the only remaining candidate is Assembly member Catherine Nolan of Queens.
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2015.
Poor little Joe.
All that butt kissing of Sheldon Silver, and so little to show for it. So sad, but Joey couldn’t even deliver the mayor’s office in Rochester, so maybe he was always a paper tiger.
The idea that New York City Democrats would choose a Speaker from 250 miles away was absurd.
Joe had too many things against him: he is a white male from upstate. That won’t get him anywhere with his party. The NYC Dems say it’s now a “tradition” that the speaker has to be from the NYC area so that they can look out for their interests (translation: screw Upstate). It’s a good thing that the Republicans have control of the senate to look out for Upstate New York’s interests. The Democrats themselves are proving the point that New York City pretty much controls New York State.
Let’s see:
Morelle didn’t have the support of the downstate Democrats who control the state.
Strike one.
Morelle certainly didn’t have the support of the upstate Republicans.
Strike two.
Morelle never sought the support of his local Democratic arch-enemy David Gantt.
Strike three.
Morelle’s out.
It was all part of the status quo game they play.