NY Post Claims Marriage Votes Are There

According to an article published today by the New York Post, there are now enough “yes” votes in the state Senate to approve marriage equality. The vote is expected to come this week in the last few days of the legislative session.

Seven or more Senate Republicans have signaled Gov. Cuomo that they’re ready to legalize same-sex marriage, more than enough to put the controversial and historic measure over the top this week, The Post has learned. A highly knowledgeable Senate insider said yesterday that “far more of the [GOP] members are in play than anyone realizes, including some surprising names from conservative upstate areas.” Among the unexpected potential Senate Republican “yes” votes, insiders say, are Kemp Hannon of Nassau County, Charles Fuscillo of Suffolk County, Betty Little of Glens Falls, Andrew Lanza of Staten Island, Greg Ball of Putnam County, James Alesi of Rochester, and Roy McDonald of Rensselaer County — all of whom helped defeat gay marriage when the vote was held in December 2009.

We’ve been burned before, so don’t hold your breath. But still….

UPDATE: The New York Times confirms three formerly “no” Senate Democrats will switch their votes.

Three wavering Democratic lawmakers in the State Senate have agreed to support legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in New York, several people with knowledge of the negotiations said on Monday, marking a potential turning point for the long-debated measure. The three senators — Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. and Shirley L. Huntley of Queens and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn — all voted against the measure in 2009, when it failed by a wide margin. Their switch to the yes column leaves all but one Senate Democrat supporting same-sex marriage — and the fate of the legislation in the hands of the Republican majority in the chamber. Three Republican senators will now have to vote for same-sex marriage if the measure is to pass in the 62-member chamber. The lone Democrat now opposing the measure, Rubén Díaz Sr., is the Senate’s most vocal opponent of same-sex marriage and is not considered swayable under any circumstances.