No Dem deal if we’re not in charge: pol

the GOP — says the sides would seek to form a new leadership coalition if the party wins two special elections earlier next year.

If the Dems lose at least one of the races — or they win both but still don’t grab control of the chamber — there is no deal, Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told the Daily News. “This is what we’re doing (in 2018),” the Yonkers Democrat said. “We’re not bleeding anything into (2019).”

Stewart-Cousins said if she is not majority leader by the end of the legislative session, the mainline Dems — and potentially the state party — would back primaries against the eight-member Independent Democratic Conference, or IDC.

If all sides do reunify, the IDC will likely still face primaries from angry liberals — even if her conference doesn’t help fund them, Stewart-Cousins acknowledged.

“Even after announcement of the deal, there were people saying they’re still planning to run,” she said. “I think it’s very, very clear when we are working together with the IDC, that neither the IDC nor the Senate Democrats would be supporting primaries against our partners.”

Every seat in the Legislature is up for election in November.

Stewart-Cousins (photo inset) also said she’d like to see Cuomo call the two special elections for the Senate seats opening on Jan. 1 in Westchester County and the Bronx “as soon as possible.”

By law, the soonest the governor can call a special election is 70 days from when the seats become vacant. That would be March 12, which is a little more than two weeks before the state budget is due to be enacted. But those close to Cuomo say he’ll likely order the special elections for April, after a budget is in place. That means he will continue to negotiate a spending plan with the GOP-IDC coalition. “I think it’s important we fill these vacancies as quickly as possible so the representation that the people of the districts expect will actually occur,” Stewart-Cousins said.

Even with both sides agreeing to the terms of the proposed reunification deal, there remains potential roadblocks.

The Democrats need to win both seats in the special election. And even if they do and the mainline Dems and the IDC agree to reunify, there is still the question of Sen. Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat who gives the GOP control of the chamber by caucusing with the Republicans.

If Felder, who hasn’t tipped his hand, stays with the Republicans, there is no deal with the IDC, Stewart-Cousins says.

Another potential hurdle is a Senate rule requiring a supermajority of 38 votes — instead of the usual 32 — to change leaders during a legislative session.

Stewart-Cousins said she’s not concerned.

“I think we will be in a position as the majority to make the rules,” she said of the 2018 elections, in which President Trump’s unpopularity is seen as a big drag on Republican candidates.

Asked if she’s worried the Senate GOP could delay things by going to court to block such a move, she noted that judges in the past have refused to get involved in the internal squabbling of the legislative branch.

“I’m looking forward to the prospect of a Democratic majority that actually governs,” she said. “It certainly is important, especially in view of what is happening on the national level.”