ALBANY - Republicans will maintain control of the Senate during state budget negotiations now that a key deadline for calling a pair of crucial special elections has passed.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has yet to call a special election to fill two vacant Senate seats, including one in a Westchester district once filled by former Sen. George Latimer, who stepped down in early January after he was elected county executive.
By law, if Cuomo, a Democrat, decides to call a special election, he has to set it between 70 and 80 days from when he formally declares one.
That means the closest date an election could be held is now early April — after the state's deadline to have its 2018-19 budget in place.
Democratic activists had urged Cuomo to quickly call the elections to give their party a chance at regaining control of the Legislature's upper chamber before the state decides on a spending plan that will exceed $160 billion.
The 63-seat Senate is currently controlled by 31 Republicans and Sen. Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat who sits with the GOP.
A spokesman for Cuomo did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Cuomo had previously expressed reluctance to set the elections before the budget deadline, arguing it would inject politics into negotiations.
"You need to get a budget done also, right?" Cuomo said in December. "Some would argue politicizing the budget isn't the best idea."
Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, D-Yonkers, has already secured the Democratic nominationfor Latimer's vacant seat. Bedford attorney Sarmad Khojasteh and former Yonkers Inspector General Dan Schorr are angling for the Republican nod.
The other vacant Senate seat is in a heavily Democratic district in the Bronx left by Sen. Ruben Diaz, who was elected to the City Council.
If Democrats take both open seats, there would be a numerical majority of elected Democrats in the chamber.
But if Democratic candidates win, it doesn't necessarily mean their party would automatically assume control of the chamber.
Several old wounds would need to be healed in order for Democrats to maintain control.
Felder, for example, would have to return to his party's fold. And the main Senate Democratic Conference and a group of eight breakaway Democrats known as the Independent Democratic Conference would have to reconcile longstanding differences in order to create a functional Democratic majority.
The state Democratic Party has outlined a plan that would see the Senate Democrats and the IDC share control of the Senate.
That plan hinges on Democrats winning both seats and Felder agreeing to return.
But it was complicated last week by a sexual harassment allegation lodged against Senate IDC Leader Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, who has denied any wrongdoing.
