Free Republic

Departure of Paul Tokasz, majority leader since 2001, expected to set off jockeying for post ALBANY -- Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz announced Thursday that he won't run for re-election, opening up a race for the chamber's No. 2 post. Tokasz, a Democrat who served a western New York district for 18 years, was appointed to the post in 2001 by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Assemblyman Ron Canestrari of Cohoes, who now heads the Higher Education Committee, and Rochester-area Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, chairman of the Tourism Committee, are front-runners, according to lobbyists and legislators, who cautioned against trying to read...

Paul Tokasz, the second most powerful man in New York State's Assembly, is leaving the state legislature at the end of his term. Tokasz, 60, will have served 18 years in the state assembly and 6 years as majority leader under Sheldon Silver of Manhattan, arguably the most notorious name in New York politics today. The above paragraph is an abstract. Read the full story in the Buffalo News article.