Planning for new Empire

GOP takeover hopes

The tight race for governor has New York Republicans increasingly bullish about legislative gains that could help Republican Lee Zeldin get things done if he pulls off a historic upset next week.

“We’re going to break the supermajority in the state Senate and state Assembly,” Zeldin told reporters Thursday about depriving Democrats of the two-thirds majorities they would need to veto legislation on priorities like rolling back bail reform.

Political experts say conditions are particularly ripe for Republicans in the state Senate, where they need to flip just two seats in the 63-member chamber, with ample opportunities on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley and upstate.

“They’re going to lose Senate seats,” political consultant Hank Sheinkopf predicted. “Probably in the neighborhood of five seats.”

Even Democratic operatives concede that warning signs are flashing for their party in the state Senate alongside their majorities in the US House, Senate and statewide races across the nation.

“They understand that there is a red wave potential,” a source familiar with Democratic state Senate strategy told The Post. “I think they have been very complacent over the last couple months and are starting to get worried. They are consolidating behind fewer people.”

While bracing for a possible loss of their supermajority, Democrats say they are confident about maintaining a majority in the chamber they flipped from the GOP in a 2018 blue wave that also brought Democrats to power in the US House.

“We have built the largest Senate majority in state history by competing aggressively and intelligently in all corners of the state and this year is no exception,” said state Senate Democrats spokesman Mike Murphy.

Democratic incumbents who appear in danger of losing include state Sens. Pete Harckham (D-Westchester), Rachel May (D-Syracuse) and John Mannion (D-Syracuse).