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As demands for resignation mount, Skelos clings to power
The state Senate Majority Leader refuses to resign in the face of corruption charges
When corruption allegations landed on Assemblyman Sheldon Silver’s doorstep, he resigned. But state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos is still clinging to power. And Republicans lawmakers and GOP donors are now in open rebellion.
“Skelos is not moving. He doesn’t want to step down,” a GOP insider involved in talks to replace the majority leader, who was arrested on federal corruption charges last week, told the New York Post.
Big Republican donors want the scandal dealt with quickly and quietly, but Skelos is now threatening to deprive his party of the necessary 32 votes needed to elect another Republican if he is removed from his post.
“I’m very disappointed with the way he’s acted the last few days. The longer this drags on, the more it hurts the Republican Party,” Tom Dadey, first vice chair of the state GOP, said.
However, according to the post Sen. Tony Avella, Democrat from Queens, is one of the few in Albany not demanding a resignation from Skelos. According to the Post, Avella collected $40,000 in campaign donations last year from companies affiliated with Glenwood Management, the same real estate company that Skelos is accused of asking to steer work to his son, Adam Skelos. [NYP] – Christopher Cameron