I still think a special election would have been the way to go, but here are coming to the end of the process and no one knows the next step? Nothing like writing the rules as we go is there… : )

Now what? Process for voting on NY state comptroller unclear

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — As lawmakers continued to interview candidates for the job of state comptroller Wednesday, it remained unclear how the Legislature will actually vote to fill the position.

A panel of three former comptrollers will pick as many as five of the candidates to recommend to the Legislature, which in joint session is dominated by Democrats and led by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Silver spokesman Charles Carrier said he did not know if lawmakers will be given the option to vote for any of the recommended candidates or if the field will be narrowed further. He also couldn’t say whether it will take a majority to win if there are multiple candidates, or if a runoff would be needed if no one receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

Not even Gov. Eliot Spitzer was sure what would happen next.

“I don’t know how mechanically they will proceed,” he told The Associated Press.

Nineteen candidates — a mix of investors, politicians, government fiscal officers and business executives — are hoping to succeed Alan Hevesi as the state’s top financial officer. Hevesi, a Queens Democrat who was re-elected in November, resigned a month later after pleading guilty to a felony for using staffers as chauffeurs and errand-runners for his wife.

A panel of more than 40 legislators and the former comptrollers was holding two days of job interviews to find the right person for the $151,500-a-year job. The panel heard from 10 candidates Tuesday and scheduled another eight interviews for Wednesday. It had concluded seven of the interviews by 5:30 p.m.

Silver has said he would prefer one of his Assembly members get the nod, while Spitzer has said he would like someone with significant financial experience outside of government.

Among those who attracted considerable attention from the questioners on Wednesday was Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli, a Nassau County Democrat.

He even earned praise from Republican Sens. Kenneth LaValle and Dean Skelos for his record in the Assembly. LaValle and Skelos, like DiNapoli, are from Long Island.