ALBANY – Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the state’s most powerful Republican, announced last night that he won’t seek re-election in November – and will step down as leader as soon as today.
Bruno, 79, of upstate Rensselaer County, who has been under federal investigation for two years in connection with his outside business dealings, first made the announcement at a closed-door meeting of Republican senators, many of whom appeared stunned.
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Bruno, a senator for the past 32 years, the majority leader since 1995, a successful businessman and a former Army boxing champion, said he had decided not to seek re-election because, “It is time to move on with my life and to give my constituents an opportunity for new representation, and my colleagues in the Senate who have supported me an opportunity for new leadership.
“Politics is a tough ball game,” added Bruno, whose wife passed away earlier this year from complications of dementia.
“Tougher now than it has ever been. But after 32 years of many successes and a few failures, I know now, more than ever, there is no calling greater than that of public service.”
Gov. Paterson, a longtime Bruno friend, emerged after a meeting in Bruno’s office last night and declared, “I think it is in some ways a sad day for Albany and for me, who liked to feel that I had a friendship with him out of government.
“The senator wants to move on . . . I’ve always found him to be forthright, direct, very engaging, an appealing personality,” added Paterson, a Democrat.
Mayor Bloomberg described Bruno as “a good friend to me and the people of New York City for all the years I have known him.”
Senate insiders predicted that Sen. Dean Skelos, of Nassau County, would be picked by the Republican Conference to succeed Bruno, most likely by day’s end today.
Other contenders include Sens. Tom Libous, of Binghamton, and John Bonacic, of Sullivan County.
Some political insiders said they suspect Bruno, whose party holds just a one-seat majority in the Senate, decided not to seek re-election as part of an arrangement to avoid indictment by the Northern District US Attorney’s Office.
His aides strongly denied that.
The feds have been probing his private business dealings, including his representation of a Connecticut-based investment company that did business with major New York unions.
Bruno, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years ago, made his decision just a few weeks before the deadline for submitting nominating positions for the Legislature to the state Board of Elections.
He is expected to endorse Republican Assemblyman Roy McDonald of Wilton, a longtime political ally, for his Senate seat.