Will 2010 begin with more gridlock in the NY Senate?

Mike Virtanen at the Associated Press has a great story out exploring how the eviction of Hiram Monserrate from the New York state Senate could affect deliberations there.

We’re heading into a brutal political season: it’s election time, Republicans and Democrats are nearly equal in number, and there are looming problems that just can’t wait.

Top all that off with a politically frail Governor David Paterson and you’ve got a formula for

The one thing Republicans and most Democrats agreed on was that Sen. Hiram Monserrate had to go, voting 53-8 last week to expel him. In a federal lawsuit, Monserrate is fighting to return, challenging his colleagues’ right to remove him for a conviction on a misdemeanor charge he assaulted his girlfriend.

That left Democrats with a 31-30 majority, one vote short of the necessary quorum for passing legislation by themselves.

Will lawmakers come together in an election year to get some important business done?

There is almost literally no precedent for that in the ten years that I’ve been watching New York state politics, but this would be a great time for lawmakers to surprise us.