Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver downplayed the possibility that he has lost his ability to override any gubernatorial vetoes without GOP assistance, saying he doesn’t intend to get to that point with Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo, despite the looming budget battle.

“First of all, the whole idea of veto-proof majority is a fiction,” Silver told me last night at the welcome reception for Somos.

“Any time we have ever vetoed it has been with the Republicans and Democrats together. Overriden a veto. And I don’t contemplate, personally, you know, challenging this governor. Notwithstanding that, I can tell you, unequivocally, we have not lost 10 seats.”

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb is holding out hope that a handful of races hanging in the balance will break his way when the absentee ballots are opened and he will manage to get the Democrats under the magic 100-vote mark.

But Kolb also insisted during a CapTon interview this week that even if he misses that mark, adding to his ranks had elevated his status and empowered his conference – especially when it comes to the pressuring the upstate Democrats not to vote with the downstate leadership.

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