On June 8th, defections from the Democratic Party in New York seemingly placed control of the state senate effectively in Republican control. Two Democratic state senators, Hiram Monserrate of Queens and Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx, staged a “parliamentary coup” by voting with Republicans to strip control of the Senate away from Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens). While Monserrate returned to the Democratic fold several days later, Espada has refused to change his current position, creating a 31-31 deadlock in the senate preventing the passage of time-sensitive legislation.

In response to Espada’s role in the GOP+2 coup, Manhattan Young Democrats has started selling these promotional t-shirts with profits to be used against Pedro Espada Jr.’s 2010 campaign, if he dares to run for a leadership position in the Senate again. (via The Albany Project)

Posted on June 30th, 2009 by PoliticalSchwagCollector
Filed under: Uncategorized