State Senate GOP picks new leader

ALBANY — Sen. Robert Ortt secured enough votes Friday to become the new head of the Senate Republican conference.

The 41-year-old lawmaker will take over the Minority Leader position from

Sen. John Flanagan (R-Suffolk) who is retiring from politics next week.

Ortt (R-Erie) is the former mayor of North Tonawanda, a small city between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. He was elected to the Senate in 2015.

“I’m eager to unite our remarkable conference and work with Republicans from across our great state to fight for our party and our values,” he said in a statement. “Hardworking taxpayers, small businesses and families from all walks of life and every region will have a fierce ally in the Senate Republican Conference.”

New York Republicans are facing a tough election year with a dwindling conference and depleted coffers.

The GOP lost its majority in the upper chamber in 2018 when a handful of progressive Democrats ousted several members of a breakaway caucus that had forged a power-sharing agreement with Republicans. That left Democrats with a 40-seat majority in the 63-seat chamber.

Since then, nearly a dozen Republicans have decided against seeking reelection this fall.

Flanagan, who announced in March he was retiring from politics, said this week he will step down on June 28 and take a job at Northwell Health rather than serve out the remainder of the year.

That opened the door for Ortt (inset), who received praise from colleagues as well as New York Republican Party chairman Nick Langworthy.

“Rob is a fighter who knows how to win tough battles, and that’s exactly what’s needed as we fight to win back control of the state senate and put an end to [Gov.] Cuomo’s dictatorial reign and the extreme left policies that are destroying this state,” he said in a statement.