Two local New York state senators will be vacating their seats for new positions in January — and a group of breakaway Democrats is eyeing at least one of those positions.

Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. (D-Bronx) will be leaving Albany to join the New York City Council in January, and Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda appears to have all but cleared the field to succeed him, even before formally announcing his candidacy.

Fellow Bronx Senator Jeff Klein recently met with Sepulveda about joining the Independent Democratic Conference, a faction of eight Democrats who caucus with Republicans. Together with Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), they give the GOP a narrow 32-31 majority in the senate.

Sepulveda declined Klein's invitation, a source told WNYC, saying he would run as a mainline Democrat, not a member of the IDC. As incentives to join the Republicans, several IDC members are committee chairs and vice-chairs and receive special bonuses called "lulus."

The other Senate vacancy is in Westchester, where Sen. George Latimer (D-White Plains) will soon become the County Executive. So far two candidates have announced campaigns to succeed him: Yonkers Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer and Kat Brezler, a political activist and 2nd-grade teacher in the Bronx. Also possibly entering the race is Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, whose brother, Nick Spano, previously served as a Republican State Senator in the adjacent district, before losing to Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the head of the mainline Democrats in the senate. 

Governor Cuomo can either call a special election or leave the seats open until voters convene next November. He hasn't yet said what he'll do.