Dems ask if he’ll put $ where mouth is in L.I. Senate race

ALBANY — A Long Island state Senate seat that could soon become vacant will be the first clue about whether Gov. Cuomo is truly serious about helping the Democrats take control of the chamber, insiders say.

“That will be the first real tangible indication — 100%,” said former state Democratic Party Executive Director Charlie King.

State Sen. Phil Boyle (photo inset) is running in the Republican primary for Suffolk County sheriff on Tuesday. If he wins, as many predict, he’s expected to quickly resign his Senate seat so a special election can be held in November.

Cuomo recently promised Senate Democrats he will be helpful with their efforts to take control of the chamber. But some skeptical Dems say they’ve heard it before and will be looking at what Cuomo does if the Boyle seat — and potentially others, like that of veteran Sen. William Larkin (R-Orange County) — open up this year.

Though Boyle’s district has more registered Democrats than Republicans, it is considered a challenge for the Dems, as a Republican has long held the seat and President Trump easily won there in November.

King and other sources said for the Democrats to have any chance, Cuomo, Suffolk County party Chairman Richard Schaffer and the Senate Dems are going to all need to pull in the same direction.

“This is all about us working together, putting aside differences; us trusting one another,” King said.

Senate Deputy Democratic Leader Michael Gianaris, who heads his conference’s campaign arm, said that to pick up the Boyle seat, Cuomo and the state party he controls are going to need to provide “significant financial help”— not just an endorsement.

“We really need parity financially to succeed,” the Queens Democrat said.

A senior Democratic official argues that the Senate Dems for weeks have known the Boyle seat could likely open, but have done little to successfully recruit a candidate. Cuomo aides noted that the governor headlined a fundraiser for the Senate Dems last year. They also mentioned how Gianaris himself has said the governor had done everything the Senate Dems had asked in the 2016 elections. “It’s amazing they still don’t get it that the main problem for the Senate Dems is the Senate Dems,” the official said. “No one is going to sign on to the Suffolk race unless there is a chance of victory and Democratic reconciliation (in the Senate), and that will never happen unless and until they replace the failed Gianaris campaign operation.”

One source, who accused the governor of having actively discouraged candidates in the past from running for Senate, said that “everyone knows the biggest obstacle to a Democratic Senate is Andrew Cuomo, and potential candidates know that as well and are asking the same questions about the governor’s lack of support.”

Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi shot back that the sources “seem more interested in feeding egos and driving wedges than in taking back the Senate. The governor is working very hard to end the personal animus and infighting between Mike Gianaris and (a breakaway group of Democrats) that is causing this divide.”