The 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis was a political dispute that prevented the New York State Senate from functioning for a month. In 2009, the State Senate was controlled by Democrats with a narrow 32–30 majority. On June 8, 2009, a coalition of all 30 Senate Republicans and two Democrats, Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada Jr., voted to replace Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith with then-Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos. The coalition appeared to have gained control of the Senate in a move that was described as a political coup. However, on June 15, Monserrate left the coalition and returned to the Democrats' side. The result was a 31–31 tie in the Senate. Upon the March 17, 2008 resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer following a sex scandal, then-Lieutenant Governor David