Marty Connor was endorsed by a number of his Democratic colleagues in the State Senate at a press conference on the City Hall steps just now.

While Connor racked up a good number of endorsements, his opponent, Dan Squadron, has the support of one very notable elected official: Chuck Schumer.

I asked two of these State Senators how they felt about Schumer’s involvement in the campaign.

Jeff Klein of the Bronx said, “Well, with all due respect to Senator Schumer, he represents us in the United States Senate. I think it’s clear that the senators that matter endorse Marty Connor.”

Bill Perkins chimed in, “Chuck has a history of endorsing those that work for him.  read more »

Ruben Diaz, Sr. the Democratic State Senator who is planning to run on both the Democratic and Republican tickets in his district, is having an August 16 fund-raiser hosted by Democratic leadership.

Diaz told me the event is happening at Maestro’s restaurant in the Bronx, and is being organized by State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and Jeff Klein, the co-chair of the conference.

The event should be worth checking out to see who shows up and if much is said about Diaz’s social conservatism. Unlike most of his Democratic colleagues, Diaz says he opposes same-sex marriage, stem cell research, and abortion.

Diaz said he supports Democrats when it comes to expanding affordable housing, improving public schools and job creation.  read more »

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."

Jeff Klein, the hotelier behind the prim City Club, doesn’t have much nostalgia for the gritty, arty days of the old Chelsea. “Not really,” he said from L.A.

So Mr.  read more »

The Times Union offered a gift of sorts to Democrats in the state Senate queasy about voting to allow illegal immigrant to obtain a driver’s license. By reporting on the technological difficulties some DMV machines have in detecting phony documents, senators can now, legitimately, say they oppose the plan because the technology isn’t there yet.

That’s how Jeff Klein had previously hedged his concerns about the issue before voting against the measure.

Seven other Democrats joined him.

I just got off the phone with Tom Staudter, a spokesman for one of them, Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

At first, he pointed to the TU story and the technological troubles as the reason for Stewart-Cousins’ objection.

But when those kinks get worked out, I asked, would she support it?

“She still has a problem, in a sense, giving people a privilege that is conferred by the state,” Staudter told me. “The other thing is she is still looking at the plan.”  read more »

Here’s a photo of state Senators Malcolm Smith and Jeff Klein with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during their trip to DC yesterday.

Earlier, I asked Klein, a Democrat from the Bronx, about Eliot Spitzer’s plan to allow illegal immigrants to obtain a state driver’s license. He told me, “I think it is only useful if it is used as a means to create a database of people we know nothing about. And if that’s not the case, I wouldn’t be in favor of it.”

More of his comments are after the jump.  read more »

Saying the money is a "slush fund" that came from unspent resources from the Pataki administration is sort of shocking. But the idea of a governor helping lawmakers in his party that are stuck in the minority conference is a no-brainer.

"You now have an ally and there are certain projects where the state awards. There's all kinds of applications, grant proposals that various entities, not for profits, municipalities apply for and I think now that its important, that it'll be helpful that now, Democratic senators can be part of the process and hope and hope our districts are taken care of."

"I read the Sun article as 'Here's a million dollars, go and spend it.' Which clearly is not the case."