Pays to Have Friends Like Bruno and Skelos

While discussion swirls about what how new Majority Leader Dean Skelos will function in Albany, one thing is unlikely to change: the flow of money between campaign accounts to fellow senators and nearly unlimited transfers to the state party.

As the New York Post reported today, Skelos has a $1.2 million war chest--funded by special interests--for an uncontested election. Like Bruno, whose re-election account balance stood at $1.6 million as of January, Skelos has been almost as generous in doling out campaign cash.

From 2004 to the present, Bruno gave nearly $200,000 to fellow senators (often the maximum $8,500 for the general election, though it's unclear if all faced challengers) and more than $500,000 to the state Republican party, $400,000 of which moved in 2006. Skelos gave nearly $150,000 to senate colleagues and funneled $475,000 to the state party over the same period.