N.Y. Senate Expells Member Over Assaulting Companion: Chamber Now in Crisis With Lack of Votes For Bills

The New York Times reports:

The State Senate on Tuesday expelled a senator convicted of domestic assault, the first time in nearly a century that the Legislature has forced a member from office.

The Senate voted 53-to-8 to immediately oust the senator, Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat convicted last fall of a misdemeanor for dragging his companion down the hallway of his apartment building.

The expulsion leaves the fragile balance of power in the Senate divided between 31 Democrats and 30 Republicans. Because legislation requires 32 votes to pass, Democrats will be unable to approve bills with just the support of their own conference. In an effort to minimize the disruption, Gov. David A. Paterson late Tuesday called a special election for March 16.

But rather than bringing the issue to a close, the expulsion vote could be the beginning of a lengthy legal fight that could create further instability in Albany’s volatile political atmosphere. Mr. Monserrate said on Tuesday that he planned to run in the special election.

This is coming to be a big issue because New York state is in a fiscal crisis.