N.Y. Republicans who backed gay marriage see coffers, criticism soar

[Tx4obama]

New York (CNN) - Republicans in New York's state Senate who crossed party lines to legalize gay marriage in the state have seen sharp increases in their campaign coffers, leading conservative activists to allege their votes were bought.

State Sen. Mark Grisanti of Buffalo, for instance, amassed just $30,000 from May 1 to June 24, the day same-sex marriage was approved. But in the two-and-a-half weeks after his vote, Grisanti reported receiving $73,000 in contributions – including huge donations from high-profile gay rights supporters like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Tim Gill, who is based in Colorado.

For State Sen. Roy McDonald, whose districts include Rensselaer and Saratoga counties, the weeks following his vote proved even more lucrative. After receiving $31,000 in the month-and-a-half preceding the vote, McDonald garnered approximately $90,000 in just 17 days. That's more than double his haul for all of 2011, according to Bill Mahoney, legislative operations and research coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Three of the four Republican supporters of gay marriage denied multiple requests for comment on the spikes. But conservatives were quick to decry the flood of donations.

Full article here: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/15/n-y-republicans-who-backed-gay-marriage-see-coffers-criticism-soar/

[lunatica]

1. They were right when they said gays would infuse NY with money

Wait till gays start paying for things everyone else has been paying for. Like all the many expenses surrounding weddings. Catering, clothes, flowers, parties, all involving small businesses.

[Aerows]

2. Gay people have money

Gay people donate to candidates that support them. Nothing strange there.

[markpkessinger]

3. What conservatives outside of NY do not understand about NY ...

...is that, by and large, NY conservatives are economic, not social conservatives.