Democrats maintain control of New York Legislature as GOP makes gains in Brooklyn and Long Island

ALBANY — Democrats retained control of both chambers of the Legislature on Tuesday despite Republican gains that appeared on track to break up the party’s supermajority in the state Senate.

Democratic leaders expected to keep at least 40 out of the Senate’s 63 seats in the wake of an election that followed a chaotic redistricting process and saw GOP candidates topple several sitting Dems in both chambers.

“The voters of New York have spoken, electing another strong Democratic majority in the State Senate,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) said in a statement. “In these unprecedented times in our country, the people know that the Senate Democrats have and will continue to deliver meaningful results.”

Dems could still potentially add two more members to their ranks in the Senate as a race near upstate Syracuse and a Brooklyn contest were both too close to call as of Wednesday.

The race for the newly drawn 17th Senate District in Brooklyn was down to a handful of votes as Democrat Iwen Chu stood just 200 votes ahead of Republican Vito LaBella, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections. The district covers parts of Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Kensington and Dyker Heights.

On Long Island, Republicans made the most gains and appeared on track to take control of seven of nine Senate seats representing Suffolk and Nassau Counties after a pair of Dem incumbents lost by wide margins.

Sen. Anna M. Kaplan (D-Port Washington) conceded defeat on Wednesday to former Republican state Sen. Jack Martins. Republican Steve Rhoads, meanwhile, handily defeated incumbent Sen. John Brooks (D-Nassau), who switched districts after final legislative maps were issued by an independent court-appointed expert earlier this year.

Democrats attained a veto-proof supermajority in the Senate in 2020 after retaking control of the chamber two years earlier. Republicans have cast Dems as soft on crime and repeatedly run with near-singular focus on rolling back reforms such as cashless bail.

This year’s convoluted redistricting process, which resulted in Dem-drawn maps being scrapped and the state’s primaries being split, ultimately may have aided Democrats in maintaining their lead in the Senate.

A pair of Republicans in the upper chamber, Sens. Sue Serino and Ed Rath, both lost races to incumbent Democrats after redistricting led to overlapping districts.

Serino failed to gain enough support to defeat Sen. Michelle Hinchey (D-Hudson Valley) and Rath lost to Sen. Sean Ryan.

In the city, progressives welcomed Democratic Socialist Kristen Gonzalez to the Legislature after running unopposed in the general election for a new district covering western Queens and a slice of Manhattan.

“Today we really proved that socialism wins, we are not going anywhere, and we will not stop until we see a socialist slate across this city,” Gonzalez said in a statement.

Republicans, however, put up big numbers in southern Brooklyn, where GOP candidates were on track to defeat incumbent Democrats in Assembly races.

Assemblyman Peter Abbate (D-Brooklyn), who has represented Bensonhurst in the state Legislature since 1986, was down 668 votes to Republican Lester Chang, according to unofficial results.

In the neighboring 46th Assembly District, incumbent Dem Mathylde Frontus was down nearly 800 votes to Republican Alec Brook-Krasny, a one-time Democrat who was acquitted on fraud charges in 2019. The district includes Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights.

Frontus, who said she’s not ready to concede just yet as she waits for absentee and affidavit ballots to be counted, told the Daily News the Brooklyn Democratic Party did little to assist incumbents in tight races.

“It was bewildering,” she said. “We felt abandoned. We felt like an orphan or a stepchild. It was a form of neglect.”

Prior to Tuesday, Democrats outnumbered Republicans 107 to 43 in the Assembly. The party’s supermajority in the chamber did not appear to be on the line, but Frontus said Dems need to reassess their approach to parts of the city where the GOP gained seats.

“There’s increasing Republican momentum here, and it didn’t happen last night — it’s been that way,” she said. “Historically, even the Democrats have been downright conservative, and that’s always been the climate down here. … Republicans are catching on that, they know that this is where they stand a chance.”

Despite the more-than-likely losses, Brooklyn Dem Party boss Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, a sitting member of the Assembly, issued a statement touting “strong voter turnout” and top of the ticket wins by Gov. Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James.

“As the largest and fastest growing borough, Brooklyn is not just culturally diverse, but politically diverse across the Democratic spectrum with many shades of blue,” Bichotte Hermelyn said. “This serves as a pertinent reminder that we need to continue to unify as Democrats, regardless of our differing views, in preparation for the GOP challenges ahead.”