Legislature To Pick Schneiderman Replacement: POLL

With resignation of state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman Tuesday, it falls to the legislature in Albany to pick a replacement to serve until there’s a new election in November. State law gives the Senate and Assembly the power to fill the position in a joint legislative session.

Schneiderman resigned hours after an article was published by The New Yorker which accused him of abusing four women. He said in a statement that he strongly denied the allegations, but that they would prevent him from effectively leading his office.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, called for résumés Wednesday of people who were interested in being considered. They were due by 5 p.m. Friday.

Odds are, since the joint session would have a majority of Democrats, the person picked will likely be from the same side of the aisle.

Other names have been floated since the news of Schneiderman’s resignation, including some familiar ones such as Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York who was fired by President Donald Trump, Rep. Kathleen Rice of Nassau County and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who represents part of the Hudson Valley.

However, not everyone is on the “let’s get a new person in there as soon as possible” band wagon.

An editorial in the Journal News suggested that the best course would be keeping acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood in the job, because appointing someone now would in effect would weigh heavily in his or her favor in November as the incumbent to beat.

Underwood has said she would not be interested in seeking a four-year term.

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