On the eve of the midterm elections, much of the political focus in New York is on the race for governor and some key Congressional races.

But the balance of power in Albany is also at stake, with Republicans hoping to erode the Democratic majority in the legislature.

Democrats currently have a firm grip on power, with veto-proof supermajorities in both houses: in the Assembly, they outnumber Republicans 107 to 43, including a 63 to 2 advantage in the city. In the state Senate, Democrats hold a 43 to 20 advantage, including 25 to 1 in the city.

But on Tuesday, Republicans believe they can put a dent in those numbers.


What You Need To Know

  • Democrats currently enjoy veto-proof supermajorities in the state Senate and Assembly

  • Republicans believe they can make gains in the Senate, where Democrats are at risk of losing three seats on Long Island

  • New legislative maps did help Democrats by shifting two districts from upstate into the city because of population changes

“I’m confident that the supermajority will get broken,” Republican candidate for governor Lee Zeldin said in an NY1 interview on Monday.

In the state Senate in particular, Republicans believe they can make gains. On Long Island, Democrats could well lose three seats, with incumbents James Brooks and Anna Kaplan both facing tough re-election fights.

Queens state Sen. Michael Gianaris, who leads the Democrats’ campaign effort, is managing expectations, noting they currently enjoy a historic majority.

“It’s a pretty high bar to say that success or failure will be judged on whether we maintain the largest majority in the 200-plus-year history of New York State,” Gianaris said. “We have reached unprecedented heights. We’ve been able to do amazing things with it. But I’ll be perfectly happy if we end up with the second-highest majority ever.”

Democrats are expected to hold their ground in the city, where many incumbent senators are running unopposed — though incumbent Toby Ann Stavisky is facing a tough challenge in a newly redrawn district.

New legislative maps did help Democrats by shifting two districts from upstate into the city because of population changes. That includes the new 59th district, where the left-leaning Democrat Kristen Gonzalez is running unopposed, and the new, plurality-Asian 17th district, where Democrat Iwen Chu is favored.

“Yes, we have some opportunities to pick up seats on the map,” Gianaris said. “There are others where the lines came out so poorly, our incumbents didn’t even choose to run for re-election. So there’s certainly going to be a shakeup.”