Long Island Senator John Flanagan To Lead Senate GOP – Skelos Resigns Post

It's official -  Senator Dean Skelos has resigned his position as Majority Leader. State Sen. John Flanagan will be the new leader of the Senate Republican conference, which has 33 members.  Flanagan takes over a week after former Leader Skelos and his son were arrested and face a federal corruption charge.

Flanagan is the Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Education as well as a lawyer.  Flanagan was first elected to the Senate in 2002.

When the day started today, rumors were that Flanagan and Senator John DeFrancisco of Syracuse would compete for the position of Majority Leader.  They did, and Flanagan emerged with the majority of the votes to gain the Leader title.

Senator Skelos will keep his position as Senator as he and his son continue to fight corruption charges.  The pair surrendered to authorities last Monday morning.

Senator Flanagan also serves on the Committees on Codes; Corporations, Authorities and Commissions; Finance; Higher Education; Insurance; Judiciary; Rules and Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs.