Bloomberg gives maximum to NY Republicans who voted for gay marriage

Photo: AP

The four New York Republican state senators who voted to legalize same-sex marriage in the state are now raking in major campaign donations.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the maximum amount possible — $10,300 — to the re-election campaigns of Sens. James Alesi, Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald and Stephen Saland after the June vote.

The four senators provided the margin for victory in a close 33-29 vote in the Republican-led Senate.

New York Conservative Party leader Michael Long said after the vote that each had lost the party’s ballot line for re-election. The senators may also face primary challenges.

Grisanti, a freshman senator from Buffalo, may have a back-up plan. After several members of his party criticized him for the vote, Grisanti told reporters in Albany, “I’m not saying I will rule it out” about switching parties.

In a statement to The Daily Caller in late June, Grisanti Chief of Staff Doug Curella said, “We have never really thought about running on the Democratic line in 2012, it’s a year in a half away, we are interested in the policy, not the politics of government.” (Bloomberg to officiate one of New York’s first gay weddings)

The Albany Times-Union reports that Grisanti raised $153,469.19 in the second quarter, making him the eighth biggest Senate fundraiser. The Buffalo News reports that approximately $50,000 came from same-sex marriage advocates, including a $10,000 donation from activist Tim Gill.