Democratic lawmakers in the state legislature have fallen into two camps after a week of allegations Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed two former aides and made unwanted sexual advances toward a woman at a wedding in 2019.

In one camp are the "resign now" legislators. But there is another, potentially larger faction of Democrats in the legislature who are preferring to wait for the outcome of an investigation now under the aegis of Attorney General Letitia James.

It's the state lawmakers in the latter group that represent Cuomo's chances for political survival in the coming weeks. State Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs on Tuesday also urged Democrats to wait for the outcome of the investigation amid the growing resignation calls. 

But some lawmakers, like Democratic Sen. Rachel May of Syracuse on Tuesday, indicated patience only goes so far.

"The Governor’s treatment of employees, legislators, and even casual acquaintances has overstepped a bright line, and his attempts to explain the pattern of behavior don’t come close to showing that he really gets it," she said. "The alleged behaviors are not just harassment, they are an abuse of power and should be treated as such. My preference is to let the independent investigation proceed, and proceed quickly, but it is getting harder and harder to see a way forward to doing our jobs with this Governor in place."

Cuomo's team has taken solace that calls for him to resign have largely come from lawmakers and organizations like the Working Families Party, who don't like him much in the first place or have little influence outside of their districts.

Lawmakers as early as Friday will move with their veto-proof supermajorities to curb the governor's enhanced powers granted to him last year to fight the pandemic -- fulfilling a push that had initially started after James' report finding the state undercounted where nursing home and long-term care facility residents had died during the pandemic.

Though unrelated to the nursing home controversy, the sexual harassment allegations spurred the legislature to act on the pandemic powers, some lawmakers on Tuesday said.

The move is a rare legislative rebuke for a governor who has amassed and effectively wielded a great deal of power in Albany over the last decade during a budget process that currently remains up in the air.