New York news is alight with reports that Mayor Bloomberg sent hefty thank-you donations to the four state Senate Republicans who voted in favor of gay marriage last month.
Bloomberg had made no secret he'd be willing to back Republicans who stuck their necks out and sided with the majority of Democrats to support same-sex nuptials.
He sent $10,300 apiece - the maximum contribution allowed - to Sens. Mark Grisanti (R-Buffalo), Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga), Stephen Saland (R-Poughkeepsie) and James Alesi (R-Rochester).
"The mayor said he would support Senate Republicans who stood up - and he did," said Micah Lasher, a top Bloomberg aide, reports the New York Daily News.
News of the donations surfaced yesterday when Grisanti became the first of the four to file his July financial disclosure statement with the Board of Elections.
Bloomberg, who traveled twice to the Capitol to lobby for gay weddings, was listed as having made his donation on July 8 - two weeks after the historic vote.
He met personally with Grisanti and McDonald during one of his Albany trips, and spoke by phone with Alesi and Saland, a Bloomberg aide said.
"It was a very nice gesture," Alesi said of the donation.
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