3 LI Assembly vacancies might stay so until after state budget

ALBANY — Thanks to vacancies and a possible delay in filling them, three Long Island Assembly districts will be among 11 constituencies that might go without full representation during the state-budget process in 2018.

With the departures of Tom McKevitt of Hempstead, Chad Lupinacci of Huntington Station and Al Graf of Holbrook, residents in parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties likely won’t get a full voice because Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signaled he probably won’t call a special election to fill any legislative vacancies until after the state budget is completed. The areas would have Senate representation.

McKevitt (Nassau County Legislature), Lupinacci (Huntington town supervisor) and Graf (district court judgeship) were elected to other jobs in November, creating the vacancies. There are six other Assembly vacancies across New York, along with two vacant Senate seats.

Government watchdogs said Cuomo should call an election this week, setting it for March so that all the vacancies will be filled by budget time — the budget deadline is April 1.

“The top of Governor Cuomo’s New Year’s resolution list should be to guarantee representation for all New Yorkers” as soon as possible, said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause. “There’s no excuse to delay.”

Because state law requires that a governor give at least 70 days notice for a special election, the earliest date could occur in mid-March.

But in November, as part of a pledge to unify divided Democrats in the state Senate, Cuomo indicated he might not set the special election date till after the budget is done. The administration said a determination would be made in January.