Democratic State Senate Fund-Raiser Confident Golisano Will Back Democrats

Jeff Klein, the fund-raising chairman for the State Senate Democrats, isn't worried about Tom Golisano's promise to drop $5 million on this year’s legislative races without specifying which, if any, party he will favor.

Klein dismissed the idea that Golisano might target Democratic candidates, telling me in an interview, “The way you shake things up is by putting Democrats in charge.”

Klein echoed Golisano‘s complaints about Albany‘s inactivity. “We can’t be blamed for leaving Albany without doing paid family leave,” he said, citing one of the issues that Democrats and the Working Families Party wanted the legislature to pass during the session that just ended. “We don’t control the legislative agenda.”

"Tom Golisano is certainly someone who has a very important role to play," Klein said, adding, "I give him a lot of credit for putting his money where his mouth is."