ALBANY — The notoriously chaotic state Senate was once again the scene of high-stakes political drama yesterday as three key races remained unsettled — and could be for weeks.
Democrats, who had controlled the Senate by 32-30, vowed to fight until every paper ballot gets counted in Senate districts with razor-thin election margins.
By court order, absentee and emergency ballots — which could determine the outcomes — can’t be counted until next week.
COMPLETE ELECTION 2010 COVERAGE
Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) predicted that final tallies from Tuesday’s roller-coaster state elections would provide the magic 32 seats the GOP needs to reclaim power in Albany.
Unofficial results showed the GOP offsetting stunning defeats in Queens and Rockland County by ousting two Long Island Democratic incumbents and another in the state’s rural north.
Meanwhile, Republican challenger Mark Grisanti appeared to overcome a 5-to-1 Democratic enrollment edge and shock incumbent Antoine Thompson (D-Buffalo) in Republican Carl Paladino’s hometown.
In Nassau County, Sen. Craig Johnson (D-LI), whose 2007 win presaged the following year’s Democratic takeover, refused to concede even though he trailed Mineola Mayor Jack Martins by 415 votes.
In Westchester, Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer was up by a scant 180 votes with results from nearly one-fifth of election districts — including several Republican areas — still outstanding.
Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran criticized the “rush to results” by Skelos and warned against the disenfranchisement of voters.
“We started the day in the majority, we remain in the majority, and we will pull out all the stops to stay in the majority,” Shafran said.
Democrats would have to hang on to all three seats to save their slim majority. Republicans must secure two to regain power.
A GOP pickup of one seat would result in a doomsday 31-31 voting scenario sure to throw a kink into Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo’s agenda.
A similar stalemate paralyzed state government for a month last year after a failed coup attempt by Republicans and rogue Democrat Pedro Espada Jr. (D-Bronx).
“Deadlock is the worst possible scenario,” said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “If it’s a tie, it means the circus is in town for another year or two.”