© 2024 WRVO Public Media
NPR News for Central New York
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

State Senate leader says bill to hold state primary in June will not pass

The Leader of the State Senate says an Assembly bill to hold state legislative primaries on June 26th is dead on arrival in his house, making it more likely that the state will hold three separate primaries this year.

A judge has ruled that congressional primaries must be held in late June, and Assembly  Democrats have proposed  a bill to change state legislative primaries to that date as well.  But Senate Leader Dean Skelos says the legislation will not be approved in his house.

“It’s dead on arrival in the Senate,” Skelos told public radio.

Skelos says Senate Republicans would like an August date, so the primaries would not interfere with the scheduled end of the legislative session.   

If there’s no agreement, the congressional primaries will still be held on June 26th, and state primaries on September 11th, with the presidential primary in April.   Governor Cuomo says three separate contests are a waste of the taxpayers money.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau Chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of 10 public radio stations in New York State. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.