Senator Espada Returns to Democrats

State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. has returned to the Democratic side, effectively ending the monthlong stalemate in Albany. Espada's return gives Democrats a 32-30 majority for the first time since June 8.

That day, Espada and fellow Democrat Hiram Monserrate caucused with the GOP and voted to flip leadership in the chamber.

Other Democrats walked out and refused to acknowledge the change, saying the vote was improper. Days later, Monserrate returned to the Demoocratic fold.

Espada told GOP leader Dean Skelos that he made a deal with Democratic leader John Sampson to assume the title Senate majority leader.

"[W]hile the leadership issues may be resolved with Senator Espada's decision to return to the Democrat conference we can never go back to the old days and the old rules that entrusted enormous power in any single leader," Skelos said in a statement. "Our efforts to build a bipartisan reform coalition were grounded in these reforms and rule changes but resulted from the dysfunction and the anger among New Yorkers about the direction this state was headed."

Thursday afternoon, Espada emerged from a room for a quick photo op with fellow Democrats Carl Kruger, Ruden Diaz Jr. and Monserrate, but didn't take any questions, according to Fox 5's Dick Brennan.

Thursday, Gov. David Paterson named former MTA chief Richard Ravitch as his lieutenant governor in an attempt to end the logjam. But the GOP sued to stop Ravitch for exerting any authority, while many other officials -- including Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, called the move unconstitutional.

The governor's Web site posted a short explanation of the administration's legal reasoning behind the appointment.