Staten Island senator to deliver GOP response
-
- January
- 9
 With Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno absent from today’s State of the State speech by Gov. Eliot Spitzer because of the recent death of his Bruno’s wife, the Republicans have designated Sen. Andrew Lanza of Staten Island to deliver the GOP response, which will be televised statewide after Spitzer delivers his speech.
 Lanza is in many ways a curious choice, since he is serving his first term.
 One Republican explained that they were looking for a fresh face, for someone who is viewed as a up and coming politician. And in a group of 32 Republicans where several members are over 70, Lanza stood out.
 In addition, having a senior Republican deliver the response might have set off speculation that whoever was picked is Bruno’s heir-apparent, and Bruno, 78, isn’t yet willing to tip his hand.
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on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 10:20 am by Jay Gallagher.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
