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Senate Leader Says 63rd Senate District Likely

State lawmakers have still not made public their new proposed maps for redrawn legislative districts, but the Senate Majority Leader says it’s likely a new 63rd district will be created.

The number of Senators has been at an even 62 for the past decade,  which helped lead to the 2009 coup attempt and month long stalemate, when Senators evenly divided between two opposing factions. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says the additional district is likely to be included in new legislative district maps that he says will be released within the next few weeks.

“There’s a good chance that they’ll go to 63.”

A 63rd Senate seat, depending on how districts are configured, could also help Republicans hold on to their narrow one seat majority in the Senate.  And a Senate Democrat who’s been a spokesman for his party on redistricting, Senator Michael Gianaris, calls it “unconstitutional and illegal” and a “despicable” power grab to keep Republicans in control of the chamber.

Governor Cuomo has threatened to veto any new lines, though, that aren’t drawn in a non partisan manner, but has admitted that throwing the process to the federal courts could be “chaotic”. 

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau chief for the New York Public News Network, composed of a dozen newsrooms across the state. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.