 Skelos, running on the Republican and Conservative party lines, defeated Berman, the Democratic and Liberal parties' candidate, in a three-way race, winning 53% of the vote (49,761) to 43.7% (41,005).Right-to-Life party candidate Joan McDermott received 3.2% (2,967) of the vote.From 1995 to 2008, Skelos was Deputy Majority Leader of the New York State Senate.