Gianaris, deputy Senate leader, won't seek reelection: 'A new role'

And state cannabis regulators sent a bill to lawmakers to fix the school distance debacle.

Good afternoon — It’s Monday and Chocolate Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris said Monday that he will not seek another term in the state Legislature.

• Republicans unanimously voted to elect Ed Ra as the new minority leader of the state Assembly.

• Bruce Blakeman selected his running mate in this year’s race for governor. After a short fumble, an upstate sheriff accepted his offer.

• Lawmakers will hear testimony on the Hochul’s proposals for health care and Medicaid tomorrow. Here’s one key issue that will likely come up.

• Here’s what else is happening at the state Capitol Tuesday.

• The state Office of Cannabis Management has sent a bill to state lawmakers that would fix school distance requirements bungled by the agency.

Names in today’s CapCon: Mike Gianaris, Ed Ra, Bruce Blakeman, Will Barclay, Andrew Cuomo, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Steven Raga, Claire Valdez, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Catalina Cruz, Robert Smullen, Richard Giardino, James McDonald, Amir Bassiri, Kaitlin Asrow, Liz Krueger

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Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra (Will Waldron/Times Union)

🔴 Ed Ra elected by Assembly Republicans as new minority leader

There’s a new minority leader in the state Assembly: Edward P. Ra.

Republicans in the chamber voted unanimously to install Ra in the role Monday after Assemblyman Will Barclay said last week he would step down from the position. Barclay is not seeking reelection.

Ra was most recently the highest-ranking Republican on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, sitting through hours of state budget hearings as the minority’s top representative.

He hasn’t yet selected a successor on the committee and there could be other changes in leadership, Ra said Monday.

“There are some dominoes that inevitably have to happen from any change but that’s something we’ll get into in the next few days,” Ra said.

Read what Ra said after he was unanimously elected Monday over on the Times Union’s website. (Free link)

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

🔵 Gianaris, deputy senate majority leader, not seeking reelection