Dem poised to be first woman boss of majority
ALBANY — State Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Monday is set to take another step toward making history.
Senate Democrats will gather in Albany Monday to vote that Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) will continue as their leader when they take control of the chamber in January.
Once formally voted majority leader in January, Stewart-Cousins will become the first woman to head a majority state legislative conference in New York.
As Democratic minority leader, she already is the first black lawmaker and woman to head a state legislative conference.
The Democrats are set to control at least 39 of the chamber’s 63 seats. It will be the first time in a decade they will have the Senate majority.
“Our conference will be a reflection, in many ways, of the state of New York, geographically, demographically, gender, so on and so forth,” Stewart-Cousins recently told the Daily News.
Stewart-Cousins was first elected to the Senate in 2006. She became minority leader in 2013.
She has vowed that a host of progressive legislation previously blocked by the Republican majority, such as strengthening the state’s abortion laws, will move forward now that the Democrats will control all of state government.