Posted on June 11, 2009

Latino-Black Rivalry Helped Fuel G.O.P.’s Takeover of State Senate

Nicholas Confessore and Danny Hakim, New York Times, June 10, 2009

{snip} two Democratic state senators, Pedro Espada Jr. and Hiram Monserrate, joined Republicans on the Senate floor Monday to kick off their surprise takeover of the chamber {snip}.

{snip}

Latino lawmakers, meanwhile, have long complained of being shut out of top positions. They were angry that no Hispanic candidate was put forward when a vacancy opened up on the State Court of Appeals earlier this year, and even angrier when Gov. David A. Paterson did not appoint a Hispanic to the United States Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton this year.

“There is a black and Latino alliance that at times has been tenuous and at times has been robust,” said Hakeem Jeffries, a black assemblyman from Brooklyn. “This could make it more tenuous.”