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The Empire

Cuomo and the State Senate

David Chen states what observers have been muttering about for some time: Cuomo's job just got easier, with Republicans taking over the State Senate, leaving his Democratic Party in control of the Assembly.

Cuomo's relationship with the Democratic State Senate was something of a head scratcher. The "New Democratic Party" Cuomo envisioned shredded many old Democratic alliances: labor unions were no longer sacred, cutting taxes was the priority, government jobs were problematic. Cuomo's liberal stance on social policies helped dull the pain some felt over his fiscal agenda.

All of which scrambled the traditional thoughts about which party was best suited to carry out his agenda.

As Elinor Tatum put it, bluntly, in one editorial:, "Cuomo did little to support the Democratic State Senate majority, and now that remains in questions."

On the campaign trail, Cuomo had said he supported Democrats in their effort to keep control of the State Senate, but was quick to note he wanted them to have a "functional" majority, unlike the razor-thin majority they had earlier, which dissolved into, well, this.