Republicans maintained control of the state Senate after the election, but one GOP incumbent is currently trailing his Democratic challenger.

John Brooks, of Seaford, leads Michael Venditto, of Massapequa, by just 33 votes.

Nassau GOP chairman Joe Mondello says he believes Venditto will be declared the winner once all of the votes are counted, but he does admit that the freshman state senator's campaign was hurt by the corruption arrests of Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and his father, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto.

"I think that the campaign was run in a way where, frankly, there was a little bit of confusion as to who the candidate was. Was it Michael or was it his father?" says Mondello.

The Republicans do have some reason for optimism in the race. Many of the absentee ballots were filed before the arrests of Ed Mangano and John Venditto.

If Brooks does hang on, he would join Todd Kaminsky as the only two Democratic state senators representing portions of Long Island.

Political analyst Jerry Kremer says the two could decide to become part of a power-sharing agreement with Republicans.

"The one or two from Long Island will have to decide if they want to be truly in the minority, or if they want to have some clout," says Kremer.

Mondello says he expects all of the absentee ballots to be counted within the next seven days.

The Nassau County Board of Elections did not return a call to comment.