Sources tell NY1 that Herman "Denny" Farrell, one of the longest-serving members in the State Assembly, is expected to announce his resignation next week. The timing of the move will clear the way for party insiders to name Farrell's replacement. State Senator Daniel Squadron's seat will be filled through a similar process, a process criticized for its lack of transparency. Zack Fink filed the following report.
First elected to the Assembly in 1974 , Herman "Denny" Farrell of upper Manhattan is expected to announce his retirement in the coming days.
While Farrell had previously said this would be his last term in the Assembly, the news that he may step down would clear the way for Democratic party insiders to handpick his replacement.
"It's not necessarily ideal because we want to have elections," said Brandon West of the New Kings Democrats. "So it would be ideal if this happened earlier so that people in the district can have an open election on who the primary candidate should be since the primary is where all the action is in New York."
Through a complicated nominating process, the Manhattan County Committee would meet at a specified date and choose who the Democratic candidate would be this November. Farrell's retirement is coming too late to have an open Democratic Primary.
The same is true for the Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Squadron, who announced his resignation last week. Since that district includes both Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, the two Democratic county leaders will meet to decide how to select the candidate.
In 2016, Yuh-Line Niou dropped out of the committee's nominating process to fill the Assembly seat previously held by Sheldon Silver, who was convicted of corruption in 2015, only to have that conviction overturned last month.
"I felt like it was an antiquated and undemocratic and not transparent process," Niou said. "So there are a lot of things about it that I think we really need to change."
Niou's decision to sit out the special election enabled party insiders to choose Alice Cancel, who served until Niou was able to beat her in Democartic primary a few months later. There will be a primary for the Squadron seat in 2018.
"Yes, I think in the next election, there will be an actual primary and a real race. And I think that is when voters will get a real choice," Niou said.
Sources say the earliest the County Committees will meet is in September, likely after the September 12 primary. Whichever candidates they choose are largely favored to win since the districts are overwhelmingly Democratic.