ALBANY -- Sen. Dean Skelos of Long Island was expected to be elected leader of the Republicans' tenuous majority in the Senate on Tuesday, according to two Republicans briefed on the succession deal struck Monday night after Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno announced his retirement.

Under the agreement, Skelos' closest rival, Sen. Thomas Libous of Broome County, will be deputy majority leader, according to the two Republicans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been officially announced.

Skelos, 60, has been in the Senate since 1985 and is steeped in the ways of power Albany, including the authority of strong majority leaders to determine what bills even get to the floor for debate. His expected election in a closed party conference would mean the Senate majority leader, the Assembly speaker, the Senate minority leader, the governor, comptroller and attorney general will all be from New York City or its suburbs.

Bruno, 79, is from upstate's Rensselaer County and has held the leader's job since 1995.

Skelos refused comment Tuesday morning.

"I think Sen. Bruno made his decision based on wanting to get on with other things in his life," Libous said Tuesday. "We're all focused in coming back in the majority (after elections) and I think we will pick up a seat or two. My interest is in the Senate majority."

The agreement for Libous to step aside in favor of Skelos was made Monday night by senior senators to avoid an internal fight that could jeopardize the chance for the Republicans to keep their 32-30 advantage in the chamber. Republican senators said Bruno simply had enough after a yearlong fight with former Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a two-year FBI investigation, and, most of all, the death of his wife in January. They had been married 57 years.

"I felt he was suffering, the loss of his wife and few other things," said Sen. Hugh Farley, a Schenectady County Republican. "He's my best friend and we came into the Senate together."

Farley and other senators said the change, while sad and surprising, will help re-energize the Senate Republican conference, which faces an increasing threat in the increasingly Democratic state.

The change in guard will also likely mean the millions of dollars in state funding and projects Bruno steered to his Albany area district will now go to Long Island if Skelos and the GOP keep the majority.

"It's time for a change," a sometimes teary eyed Bruno told reporters Tuesday. "It's time for me in my life to step back and enjoy my family ... I'm satisfied."

Bruno said the FBI investigation played no role in his decision. He insists he has never been accused of a crime and won't be, and the federal probe will end without action against him.