Cuomo Braces for Divide

New York Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo will face a split Legislature when he takes office next year after the state’s highest court last week ruled against a hand recount in the last contested race.

Republicans will hold a 32-to-30 majority in January. In 2009, Democrats took control of the Senate for the first time in decades. They lost control that summer when two Democrats briefly switched sides and ousted the majority leader in a short-lived coup. With the narrow majority now back in Republican hands, Cuomo will have to contend with a Democratic Assembly and a GOP-run Senate.

“We have a transition that must take place and only days to do it,” said the once and future majority leader, Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, said in a statement. “There are a myriad of challenges that must be solved on behalf of New Yorkers and their families, including the need to do something about high taxes and the lack of good-paying jobs.”

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