Well both leaders are being challenged this year. Silver in a primary and Bruno in the general. This is gearing up to be a very interesting election year.

Bruno Challenger Surfaces as Democrats Ride High

A prominent criminal defense attorney in Albany is preparing to announce his candidacy against the Republican leader of the Senate, Joseph Bruno, who hasn’t faced a serious general election challenge since he was crowned majority leader in 1995.

Seeking to catch the wave of Democratic momentum following his party’s upset victory in an upstate Senate election last month, the lawyer, Brian Premo, says he’s convinced Mr. Bruno is beatable. “I have always believed that in our community, Joe is not as well-liked as he would like to believe and as others in the political arena might presume,” he said in an interview.

“People are tired of the dysfunction in Albany, and in particular of Joe Bruno. He wants to take credit for everything he thinks is good in government, and he wants to take no responsibility for everything we know is bad in Albany,” he said.

While the Republican electoral defeat and a revived federal ethics investigation into Mr. Bruno’s business dealings have raised questions about his political viability, the 78-year-old senator remains a potent force in his district — encompassing Rensselaer County and part of Saratoga County — where Mr. Bruno has steered hundreds of millions of dollars in discretionary aid and capital projects.

Mr. Premo, 48, sought to run against Mr. Bruno two years ago but was kept off the ballot by Democratic Party leaders in Saratoga after he missed a filing deadline to change his registration to Democrat from Republican.

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