Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, the New York State’s highest-ranking Republican, will step down at the end of this term in December, according to a statement released by his office on Monday evening.
Mike Groll/Associated Press
“Today, I met with my Republican colleagues in the Senate and informed them that I will not be running for re-election this November,” the statement said. “After 32 years in office, I have decided that 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.”
The news startled people in the State House, especially Republicans, who had not anticipated the move. Mr. Bruno has been their leader since 1995.
It is not clear whether he would remain Senate majority leader as the Republicans struggle to hold on to their one-seat majority in the November election.
Mr. Bruno gathered his colleagues in the Senate behind closed doors to tell them the news. One Senate Republican said Mr. Bruno told them the decision to step down was “not at all related” to an ongoing federal investigation of Mr. Bruno’s outside business activities. The senator said Mr. Bruno did not give an explanation of why he was leaving.
“We expressed our sorrow and disappointment,” said the Republican senator, who would only describe the meeting on condition of anonymity because he did not want to break Mr. Bruno’s confidence.
