New York Gay Marriage: GOP Senators Who Supported Bill Rewarded With Big Donations

A crucial moment in the tense buildup to legalize same-sex marriage in New York came when a group of wealthy, conservative financiers pledged big donations to on-the-fence Republican state senators if they voted for the Marriage Equality Act.

Four such senators ended up providing the decisive votes in support of the historic measure, which Governor Cuomo signed into law on June 24th.

And those wealthy financiers, one of whom is Mayor Michael Bloomberg, haven't forgotten their promise.

The New York Times reports that a fundraiser planned for Thursday night in Manhattan is expected to raise about $1.25 million to help finance the re-election bids of Mark J. Grisanti of Buffalo, James S. Alesi of Rochester, Stephen M. Saland of Poughkeepsie and Roy J. McDonald of Saratoga County.

(You may remember McDonald as the senator who passionately defended his 'yea' vote against critics by saying "Fuck it, I don't care what you think.")

The financiers in attendance will include Mayor Bloomberg, the philanthropist and gay rights activist Tim Gill, hedge fund managers Paul E. Singer and Daniel S. Loeb, and several other top-tier donors.

The National Organization For Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage, has paid for bilboards in each of the senator's districts vowing to unseat the lawmakers, who voted against the wishes of party leaders.

Most recently, after Bob Turner, a Republican, defeated David I. Weprin, a Democrat, in a New York City Congressional race, NOM paid for billboards warning the senators, “You’re Next.”

Thursday's event will provide the senators some serious cash to defend themselves primary challenges.

Comments

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

08:52 PM on 10/14/2011

IIRC the Democrats and Mr. Weprin spent vast sums on the past special election and still lost to Mr. Turner; and that was in their own district.

Everyone knew this was coming and Mr. Bloomberg for one made no secret of his "quid pro quo" on this matter so it's hardly news.

Since these are local elections while raising vast sums can offer an incumbent various benefits it in no way means an easy or certain re-election.

New York State and City have some of the most if not the most porous election campaign inancing/donation laws in the United States. Mr. Bloomberg in particular has benefitted quite well from these as mayor since it seems what limited bodies there are to police such things apparently do not see any conflict of interest with a mayor using his personal fortune to influence local and state matters as he deems fit. Nor are there any restrictions on whom he brings into city government and subsequently leave and are employed by Mr. Bloomberg. The one body that should be interested in these activities, the City Council are so beholden to the man and his money (it brought them a change in term limits allowing most to say on a third term amoung other things), you rarely hear complaints from that area. In particular that Quinn woman who in addition to remaining in office for another term cannot afford to upset the person whose endorsement she craves to become his replacement.

[taina2]

11:06 AM on 10/14/2011

Votes for sale. This is the problem that must be fixed before we can get anything done. Our system of bribery/ extortion, we call campaign finance must be changed.

[LoyalBob]

08:48 AM on 10/14/2011

How about that, Maggie Gallagher? Your hate tactics didn't work. And now the GOP guys you are targeting for defeat will end up not needing your pittance of a donation.

It's kind of cool how poetic justice works.

[moungary]

02:55 AM on 10/14/2011

Well we know who the wealthy people in America are now,homoexuals.

[davyd56]

10:19 AM on 10/14/2011

I am still waiting on my financial ship to come in....but its a nice thought.

Homo sex is hot.

[Peter Solomon]

02:14 PM on 10/15/2011

and an abomination, don't forget that.

[PatrickforO]

12:45 AM on 10/14/2011

Gay marriage. Abortion. Bills that will allow hospitals to refuse care to women hemorrhaging with miscarriage. Dismantling the EPA. Ending Frank-Dodd. Repealing 'Obamacare.' Concealed weapons laws. Executions. Removing flouride from the water, by God! This is what the GOP's corporate masters want them to do; introduce red herrings like this so that we can be distracted from our misery, will hopefully forget about jobs, will sit silently by and allow programs that have and do help us to be slowly (or rapidly) dismantled. They want us to be docile so they can continue raping our treasury. Remember it is us taxpayers who take the risks and Wall Street that takes the profits. By sowing seeds of hatred, divisiveness and mistrust, Wall Street and international business interests are trying to isolate us so that we do not organize. Whatever happens, we must NOT organize. If we did, they would have to yield to some reasonable demands, like single payer healthcare not tied to jobs. Like affordable college. Like strong social security and social safety nets. Like getting out of the wars, closing Guantanimo, reducing the military budget and rethinking our foreign aid to actually help third world nations raise their standard of living. Walk the democracy walk instead of merely talking the democracy talk.

[anti-fascist-GOP]

01:05 AM on 10/14/2011

Patrick, American can't afford democracy. It's 1932 in Weimar America. The Operation Endgame camps have been built and the state police are getting ready to round us up. Google "DCI coverup" to see the documented proof (including email from the Wyoming Governor's office)

[HoosierInMaryland]

01:52 AM on 10/14/2011

Sorry, but the US is NOT a democracy, or even a Democracy.

The US is a representative Republic.

I believe the sole remaining country that is a Democracy is Switzerland (but ONLY at the canton level of governance), where some cantons just (relatively) recently allowed women the right to participate in that Democracy. I believe it was Appenzell Innerrhoden, in 1991, that gave women the right to vote.

In fact, the first canton that allowed Women's Suffrage did so in 1959.

Maybe you would like the Swiss system better than the US system?

[PatrickforO]

02:11 AM on 10/14/2011

Nice reply. We do indeed live in a republic, which can also be referred to as a representative democracy. This because our founders felt that the masses were incapable of governing themselves, and in the words of John Jay, "The people who own the country should run it." I'm fine with our Constitution and Bill of Rights. What I'm not fine with is multinational corporations and Wall Street financiers owning our legislative, judicial and electoral processes. Because face it, if they were taking care of our business, we'd have had single payer healthcare in 1950 and social security would be well funded into the next century. We need to organize or else we'll end up living in third world conditions, with a very wealthy top tier, and everyone else subsidizing it through wage slavery.

[MissingAmerica]

11:08 PM on 10/13/2011

If we have to pay our Congressmen to do the right thing, so be it.

[rockysparks]

10:37 PM on 10/13/2011

Money apparently talks.

[anti-fascist-GOP]

01:06 AM on 10/14/2011

Money and consciousness. Are you without both and a ...little bit angry?

[rockysparks]

05:50 AM on 10/14/2011

Nope ... just making an observation. Are you paranoid and a ... little bit angry yourself?

[sergal stew]

10:33 PM on 10/13/2011

if this was a business I would go to their stores and harass their employees like gays do Target and Chic-Filet. I don't care what people think either. I don't support gay "marriage"

[pfz]

11:47 PM on 10/13/2011

it doesn't matter what you support or what your opinion is.

[PatrickforO]

12:48 AM on 10/14/2011

Why do you dislike gay people so much? Maybe you'd do better focusing your energy on real social justice, like job creation, affordable college, health care, poverty and social safety nets. Things that actually help Americans and bring us together instead of doing what Wall Street wants and sowing hatred, mistrust and isolation.

[libnlandofthelost]

08:56 PM on 10/13/2011

Hey, turn about is fair play. Relaxing donation law goes both ways.

[Dish Soap]

07:43 PM on 10/13/2011

This is an actual proof of bribery by the wealthy "donors",or maybe I am ignorant that this is not longer a crime.

[r henry]

09:20 PM on 10/13/2011

Apparently not

[Christina-Xena]

10:41 PM on 10/13/2011

Maybe not a crime, but certainly shows how much infuence money can buy...either way.

I'm pro-gay rights but NOT pro-buying political votes from so-called representatives.

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

09:12 PM on 10/14/2011

These Republican state senators are in an odd sort of bind.

In NYS the primary election matters more than the general in many ways especially for local, statewide and or the House in Washington. That is because most NYS voting districts are so drawn that whomever wins the primary for his party normally faces only token battles from the other side. Upsets do happen as the past few special elections have shown, but they aren't the norm.

Since Mr. Cuomo cannot come right out and support these senators in their re-election bid (that would tick off any democrat running from that area), they must count on their local base for support and here in NYS that means using whatever politcal "machine" exists to get out the vote. The hope is to raise enough funds to either scare off potential rivals in the primary or crank out enough supporters to become foot soilders to get the job done.

Either way the democrats in the NYS senate can sit back and chuckle. Many would be quite happy for a split in the repulican party so they can win back two or more seats for a majority. If it means one or two of the "gay four" have to go, then so be it.

[Steven Pedullo]

06:09 PM on 10/13/2011

money talks and bullsh/ walks, its pretty pathetic when you have to be bought to do the right thing

[friendlier]

05:49 PM on 10/13/2011

So their votes were bought?

[Olethea]

06:46 PM on 10/13/2011

Yup. So much for their convictions, huh?

Looks like it's the bottom dollar, not equality for their constituents, that influences these conservatives. Had you any doubt?

[Republitarian]

07:47 PM on 10/13/2011

So if Republicans vote your way, they are bought, and if they don't, they are haters. Can't win with you libs (as McCain's 2008 and Joseph Cao's 2010 losses proved), which is exactly why Republicans should never try to appease liberals.

[Mochilero]

05:30 PM on 10/13/2011

The most dangerous characteristic of the Teapublicans is that they demand 100% orthodoxy on every issue. Maybe they should develop androids to run for office. Without any willingness to compromise or seek consensus from those on the right, we will all sink together.

[Republitarian]

07:47 PM on 10/13/2011

Ha! Go tell that to reliably-liberal vote Joe Lieberman! What a joke!

[Douglas Campbell]

04:24 PM on 10/13/2011

So? If they voted against Same-Sex Marriage they would have been funded by NOM.

[Marcus047]

04:36 PM on 10/13/2011

NOM doesn't actually give money away, because then they couldn't spend it on themselves.

[Douglas Campbell]

04:47 PM on 10/13/2011

Ask Bob Turner where he got his money from.

[Gay Iberian]

04:13 PM on 10/13/2011

These pro gay civil right senators are what makes America great.