Update: Nassau County
Remember that "Thousand-to-one-shot" court challenge that I mentioned? Well, I should have bet the long shot. State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Spinola agreed with the Democrats:
"A constituent would expect his legislator to vote for a presiding officer who is a member of the same political party of the legislator he elected to represent his district. To expect otherwise is counterintuitive to the notion of representative government," Spinola wrote.
...
The judge agreed, ordering lawmakers to "reconvene and remain in session and elect a presiding officer with a minimum of a ten vote majority of the legislature."
"A constituent would expect his legislator to vote for a presiding officer who is a member of the same political party of the legislator he elected to represent his district. To expect otherwise is counterintuitive to the notion of representative government," Spinola wrote.
...
The judge agreed, ordering lawmakers to "reconvene and remain in session and elect a presiding officer with a minimum of a ten vote majority of the legislature."