after years of republicans controlling the new york state senate , democrats are within reach of reclaiming the chamber , propelled by corruption scandals, the influence of presidential politics and the unprecedented support of gov. andrew cuomo. but the fate of the chamber may ultimately lie in the hands of one senator: jeff klein. mr. klein, who represents portions of bronx and westchester counties, leads a faction of breakaway democrats who have aligned themselves in a power-sharing agreement with senate republicans, giving the gop control of the 63-member chamber. democrats are expected to pick up seats in the nov. 8 election. but even if they win multiple races, they will likely need to lure mr. klein<u+2019>s group, the so-called five-member independent democratic conference, to join with them to attain a governing majority. <u+201c>all roads lead to klein,<u+201d> said bruce gyory, a democratic strategist who isn<u+2019>t being paid by any legislative candidates. mr. klein declined to be interviewed for this article. in a statement, he signaled that his group<u+2019>s allegiance is up for grabs. <u+201c>the independent democratic conference will remain a separate conference focused on fighting for the people of new york,<u+201d> mr. klein said. <u+201c>when the dust settles on the election, we will work with legislators who share in our commitment to getting things done on issues impacting new yorkers.<u+201d> mr. klein<u+2019>s group is expected to pick up a new member next week. marisol alcantara, a democrat who is running to succeed outgoing sen. adriano espaillat, has pledged to join the group if she wins next week. she is heavily favored in the race. sen. mike gianaris of queens, the chamber<u+2019>s deputy democratic leader, expressed optimism that the democrats would lure back mr. klein and attain control of the chamber. <u+201c>with each passing day, we<u+2019>re seeing more and more democratic party unity, from the governor on down,<u+201d> mr. gianaris said, <u+201c>and our leadership has been having very productive conversations with sen. klein and his members.<u+201d> in recent weeks, sen. andrea stewart-cousins of westchester county, leader of the democratic conference, and mr. gianaris have met with mr. klein and other members of the group, including sen. diane savino of staten island, according to a person familiar with the matter. mr. cuomo, a democrat who has faced criticism in previous years for his lackluster efforts to advocate for his own party to gain control of the senate, is more engaged than ever in pushing for democratic leadership in the chamber. though all assembly seats are also up for election next week, that chamber is a democratic stronghold and is expected to remain so. last week, mr. cuomo sent a fundraising email endorsing sen. todd kaminsky , a long island democrat, and senate candidate adam haber, another long island democrat. in total, he has endorsed five democratic candidates for the chamber and has directed the state party to campaign for candidates across the state. at one fundraiser, mr. cuomo made the case that his backing of a democratic majority was tied to his interest in passing another ethics overhaul package in the wake of public-corruption cases across the state. the ethics overhaul would be the state<u+2019>s fifth in seven years. while albany has faced numerous high-profile corruption cases in recent years, mr. cuomo has been accused by good-government watchdog groups and others of doing little to advance ethics overhaul packages. last legislative session, after a brief mention of ethics issues in his state of the state address , the governor didn<u+2019>t touch the subject again for months. a smattering of ethics measures were ultimately approved, but they were considered meager. this year, mr. cuomo<u+2019>s administration itself has direct ties to a corruption case involving one of mr. cuomo<u+2019>s former top aides, and it may be difficult for the governor to avoid addressing the core matters underpinning that case without political blowback. the governor wasn<u+2019>t charged in the case and hasn<u+2019>t been accused of wrongdoing. this time around, mr. cuomo has made a point of giving conditional support to democrats, who have had their own corruption scandals and other challenges in the past. to earn mr. cuomo<u+2019>s support, candidates were required to fill out a questionnaire on their positions on various measures, including public-campaign financing and limiting outside income for lawmakers. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m not saying every republican is bad and i<u+2019>m not saying every democratic senator is good,<u+201d> the governor said at a fundraiser for senate democrats last week. <u+201c>i think we have democratic senators who are problematic.<u+201d> and as the election approaches, senate republicans have turned to what has become their favorite scarecrow: new york city mayor bill de blasio, a democrat. <u+201c>the senate democrats are an appendage of bill de blasio and city hall, and it is unfathomable why gov. cuomo would want to place de blasio in charge of setting the state<u+2019>s agenda by electing senate democrats,<u+201d> senate majority leader john flanagan, a republican, said in a statement. <u+201c>their extreme agenda is to tax the life out of hardworking, overburdened new yorkers and impose upon new york radical policies that the vast majority of people who live here don<u+2019>t want,<u+201d> he said. a spokesman for mr. de blasio didn<u+2019>t respond to a request for comment. a spokesman for the senate democrats, mike murphy, said the candidacy of gop presidential nominee donald trump <u+2019>s has positioned democrats for victory. he accused senate republicans of adopting his tactics to <u+201c>scare and divide people<u+201d> ahead of election day. write to erica orden at erica.orden@wsj.com
democratic senators court breakaway faction - wsj
erica orden