Joe Morelle has pulled out of contention for the job of Assembly Speaker, throwing his support behind Carl Heastie of the Bronx.
Assembly Minority Leader, Republican Brian Kolb of Canandaigua, says the chamber has lost a very viable candidate.
He says New York City assembly members tend to want to have their speaker come from New York City.
And there was political pressure amongst the boroughs to have someone from New York City to be speaker.
Kolb says the Assembly needs to change its mindset because they had the best candidate with the best leadership and management skills in Joe Morelle, but downstate politics got in the way.