Ideally, Sampson needs a No. 2 who's an
upstater (remember that the conference lost two upstate members, Darrel Aubertine and Antoine Thompson), an Hispanic (former Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr., love him or hate him, was the highest - ranking Latino leader in the Legislature — a point Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. likes to emphasize from
time to
time) and a woman.
DeFrancisco expressed frustration with the fact that some of his colleagues said one thing and did another when it finally came
time to cast their votes in the closed door conference, where he reportedly received 15 votes to Flanagan's 18, with six fellow
upstaters casting deciding votes.