Ruben Diaz Sr.

Here’s a picture from Carl Heastie’s holiday party yesterday, the first he’s hosted since becoming the Bronx Democratic County Leader earlier this year.

Before the party, Heastie had lunch with two of the Democratic state senators who are refusing to support a fellow Democrat, Malcolm Smith, for Senate majority leader.  read more »

ALBANY—Why is Carl Kruger getting a pass?

The ring-leader of the so-called "gang of three" has spent a quiet holiday season, people close to him say, and as his fellow renegades have been blasted by mail, canvasser and YouTube, no one has gone after Kruger.  read more »

ALBANY—First in the mail, then in print, and now on the interweb.  read more »

ALBANY—Two can play the flyering game, apparently.

State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. sent out this open letter in response to a campaign by labor groups to try to bring him in line behind State Senator Malcolm Smith.  read more »

ALBANY—Christine Quinn is weighing in on Barack Obama's choice of pastor at his inauguration, expressing "profound objection" to the selection of Rick Warren, who "publicly and rabidly committed to denying same-sex couples the right to civil marriage, and all of the rights and responsibilities that civil marriage provides."  read more »

ALBANY—Another holiday with the Diaz's.

Fresh off his Thanksgiving event, Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. and his son, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. are hosting a Christmas party for lots of people Friday night in the Bronx.  read more »

ALBANY—David Paterson's hard-to-digest budget proposals may prove helpful for State Senator Malcolm Smith.

After speaking briefly with reporters, Smith met with fellow Democratic senators behind closed doors.  read more »

ALBANY—Explicit in State Senator Malcolm Smith's announcement this morning was that same-sex marriage-- reported to have been moved off the table to gain the support of Senator Ruben Diaz S  read more »

ALBANY—How could it have gone wrong?

Take three guys with no financial loyalties to their new leader.  read more »

ALBANY—Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. confirmed the agreement between three renegade state senators and Senator Malcolm Smith to parcel out leadership positions is on the verge of falling apart.  read more »

The Democrats have patched together a ruling coalition in the State Senate, but how well it will work is another story.  read more »

In order to assume leadership of the State Senate, Malcolm Smith had to negotiate with three Democrats who were refusing to support him, and who wanted things in exchange for their support.

Ruben Diaz Sr. didn’t want a bill to legalize same-sex marriage coming to floor for a vote.

Pedro Espada wanted to see more Hispanics in leadership roles in Albany.  read more »

After negotiations that at various points involved David Paterson, Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano and Representative Greg Meeks, Malcolm Smith has won over the three Democratic holdouts in the State Senate conference, and is poised to become the proverbial "third man" in Albany’s ruling trio.  read more »

ALBANY—State Senator Carl Kruger said he doesn't know much of Tom Golisano, the upstate billionaire and three-time gubernatorial candidate, but stopped short of denying Liz's report that they will meet tomorrow.  read more »

ALBANY—A week before the election, State Senator Carl Kruger sent thousands of dollars to fellow members of the now "gang of three" senators, election filings  read more »

A day after David Paterson criticized the slate of candidates he can choose from to replace Chief Judge Judith Kaye, State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. and Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate have released statements saying they, too, are unhappy about the lack of diversity.  read more »

A forum about same-sex marriage last week at the L.G.B.T. Center in Chelsea earlier in the week turned into a pointed debate over how to respond to three rebellious Democrats in the State Senate.  read more »

After speaking on stage together at turkey giveaway, Republican State Senate Leader Dean Skelos gave Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. a hand-shake hug, and thanked him for his kind words.

(Diaz has introduced Skelos minutes earlier, welcoming him to the Bronx and encouraging the crowd to applaud him. He said he hoped the two could share more moments like that one.)  read more »

State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. just introduced Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith at a turkey giveaway in the Bronx by saying he wants Smith "to be my friend."

Not just that, Diaz added, "I want him to be your friend."  read more »

ALBANY—The Associated Press is reporting that State Senator Malcolm Smith will attend an event Tuesday sponsored by Gang of Three member Ruben Diaz Sr.  read more »

ALBANY—State Senator George Winner, an Elmira Republican, just brought up an interesting scenario in the still-unresolved fight to be the chamber's majority leader.  read more »

ALBANY—State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. said he would conference with Democrats in the chamber as they gather at the Capitol for a special session tomorrow.  read more »

In a closed-door meeting with four State Senators yesterday, Governor David Paterson expressed openness to supporting someone other than Malcolm Smith, the leading candidate to become the Democratic Majority Leader, according to two people in the meeting.  read more »

The irony of the drama surrounding the future of Democratic leadership in the State Senate is that whether or not current Minority Leader Malcolm Smith retains his power partly hinges on an issue the party tried to keep under the radar during campaign season: same-sex marriage.  read more »

Before this weekend’s Somos el Futuro conference in Puerto Rico, I chatted with Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. of the Bronx, who is angry that people are questioning his political loyalties.  read more »

Eliot Spitzer won’t face federal charges for patronizing a high-end prostitute and arranging for her to cross state lines for their meetings.  read more »

State Senator and Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr. thinks New Yorkers should Michael Bloomberg's third term as a matter of faith.  read more »

Democratic hopes of taking over the New York State Senate this year may hinge on Rubén Díaz Sr. And that’s not good for them.

Mr. Díaz is a conservative member of their conference who, to their chagrin, is in the habit of flaunting his coziness with the Republican Party.

And now, Mr. Díaz -- the only Democratic state senator to run for reelection this year with the support of the G.O.P. -- is justifying his actions to his Democratic colleagues by calling into question their own partisan credentials.

In an interview, Mr. Díaz recalled the 2005 mayoral election, when Democrat Fernando Ferrer opposed (then) Republican Michael Bloomberg.  read more »

Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr.--who is running for re-election on both the Republican ticket and the Democratic one--wants to clear the air about a few things.

He called to say that his August 13 fund-raiser features Democratic State Senate Leader Malcolm Smith and conference co-chair Jeff Klein, but they are not behind the event.

“They are not organizing it,” Diaz told me. “They never organized nothing for me.” Diaz said his paid fund-raiser for the event is Anne Noonan, and that he is calling contributors himself.

Diaz also said of the party, “I’ve been there when they needed me,” and added that he contributed money to help his conference pick up seats.  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 »

Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, who told Danny Hakim earlier today that he is planning to run on both the Democratic and Republican tickets in his district (he only has competition on the Democratic side) is becoming a bit like the Joe Lieberman of Albany.  read more »

Diaz is a deeply religious Pentecostal Christian, and Lieberman is an Orthodox Jew. In the last few years, Lieberman hasbroken with national Democrats over foreign policy consistently (and is currently a surrogate for John McCain), while Diaz is opposed to both gay marriage and abortion. Also, depending on how many seats Democrats pick up this November,

Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., one of a handful of elected Democrats who oppose abortion in New York State, is giving some credit to Vito Fossella in a public letter:  read more »

A day after the City Council voted in favor of congestion pricing, and before the state legislature has a chance to, critics of the plan are making the argument that it is a financial burden on community services and charities.  read more »