Former Senator Drops In; 'Pretty Sad' She Says

ALBANY—Nancy Larraine Hoffmann, a former state senator from Syracuse, was spotted walking around the floor of the State Senate during the now-daily extraordinary session, which otherwise lasted an unremarkable three minutes, 39 seconds. Hoffmann was originally elected in 1984 as a Democrat, but flipped to the Republican conference in 1998. She was defeated in 2004 by David Valesky.

Is Hoffmann the bipartisan consensus candidate to preside over the chamber amid its seemingly unresolvable turmoil? Nope.

"I had business in Albany and I thought I would just stop in," she said. Of the current stalemate, she added, "It's really pretty sad."