In the wake of last night’s failed NYC OTB bailout vote, the Senate Democrats are systematically singling out Republican senators who have racing interests in or near their districts for blame.

So far, I’ve received statements targeting: Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos (“for forcing GOP senators to vote against Belmont and 1,000 jobs”), Sen. Joe Griffo (“against Vernon Downs and 1,000 jobs”), Sen. John Bonacic (“against Monticello Raceway and 1,000 jobs”) and Sen. Hugh Farley (on his “absence on OTB vote (and) refusal to support Saratoga Raceway”).

The Farley statement strikes me as the harshest of the bunch, ending thusly:

“Adding insult to injury, Farley says, ‘I was probably going to vote for it,’ – a slap in the face to the thousand workers who will definitely lose their jobs because Farley took a walk from the chamber and lacked the courage to fulfill his duty as an elected official.”

“We could say we saw Senator Farley at his worst, but we did not see him at all – he was absent when it counted most.”

Farley told CapCon’s Casey Seiler he missed the (rather lengthy) slow roll-call vote because he got held up talking to Skelos. (Oddly, Skelos managed to make it to the chamber in time to vote, but his name comes later in the alphabet). He said he walked into the chamber just as the vote ended, and “was probably going to vote” in favor of the bill that died, 29-21.

UPDATE: Senate GOP spokesman Scott Reif informs me that as leader, Skelos is not required to be in the chamber and in fact wasn’t for the OTB vote…counsel voted for him.

Reif responded to the Democrats by accusing them of engaging in “hypocrisy,” noting Conference Leader John Sampson brought the bill to the floor despite the fact that it didn’t have sufficient support in his own 32-member conference to pass.

“By insisting on a take-it-or-leave-it approach, Senate Democrats voted to close NYC OTB and put people out of work – plain and simple,” Reif said.

“The Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for questioning the integrity of Senator Farley, one of the Senate’s most respected members. Frankly, we’re not surprised Democrats would stoop to this level after one of their own members admitted to boycotting the vote and other Democrats were nowhere to be found.”

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