(Photo: Patrick McMullan)

The Democratic takeover of Albany has been assured for months, and big donors are betting on the winners. In the last two weeks leading up to the election, Eliot Spitzer took in over $256,000 in contributions; in the attorney-general race, Andrew Cuomo has taken in nearly $974,000 during the same period. Cuomo received fat checks from former foes like Stephen Green, Mark Green’s real-estate-honcho brother, and Kent Swig, another real-estate big who backed another Cuomo victim, Charlie King. Also jumping on the Cuomo bandwagon are lawyers at Sheldon Silver’s public-injury law firm (they gave to Spitzer too) and Donald-spawn Ivanka Trump. She gave $1,500. “This is ‘make nice’ money,” says one Democratic politico. “It’s strictly business.” Says one Dem consultant, “How can you claim to clean up Albany when you’re taking from the same usual suspects?” (In 2002, Governor George Pataki took in nearly $1.2 million during the same period.)

Have good intel? Send tips to intel@nymag.com.

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Geoffrey Gray
• Table of Contents: Nov 13, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!