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Flanagan, who assumed the leadership of the chamber in 2015, had first sought treatment for alcohol dependency in 2017. In a statement Friday, he said that he had recently recognized he needed to seek additional help and would miss the start of session, which begins Wednesday, as a result of a “thorough rehabilitation and recovery program.”
“No man or woman is perfect, but it does not mean we all shouldn’t strive for continuous and daily improvement. I will attempt to do that with every fiber in my body,” Flanagan, who represents central Long Island, said in the statement. “This brief period of time away is necessary for my overall well-being, but will in no way impact my ability to serve my conference or my constituents.”
The Republicans decisively lost their slim majority in the Senate in November’s election, and with it their last toehold of power in state government. They will now enter the session in their weakest position in a decade, and without their leader. Sen. Joseph Griffo, who represents Lewis and Oneida counties upstate, will oversee the Republican conference until Flanagan, 57, returns.
Flanagan’s announcement capped a tumultuous lead-up to the session, as the Republicans had grappled with the loss of more than half a dozen seats, including in a few surprise races. After the election, Sen. Catherine Young, of Western New York, mounted a challenge to Flanagan for the position of minority leader, citing what she called the conference’s “devastating” losses.
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Flanagan survived with 14 votes to Young’s nine. Some had also called for the chairman of the state Republican Party, Edward Cox, to resign.
Flanagan’s ascent to the top post in the Senate — a position that allowed him to negotiate with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie as one of Albany’s infamous “three men in a room” — was no less turbulent. He succeeded former Sen. Dean Skelos, who was arrested on corruption charges in 2015 and later convicted.
Scott Reif, a spokesman for Flanagan, said Flanagan had been in treatment since before Christmas and that he expected to be back the week of Jan. 21.
Other legislators shared sympathy and messages of support after the news. Young commended Flanagan’s bravery, and Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the leader of the Senate Democrats, who replaced Flanagan as majority leader, said in a statement that she considered him a friend, and that she respected his candor and awareness of his health.
In his statement, Flanagan invoked his more than three decades in Albany. He was first elected to the Assembly in 1986, to fill a seat held by his father, who had died in office; he joined the Senate in 2002.
“It’s been the honor and privilege of a lifetime, and one that I will never take for granted,” he said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.