Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has formally announced his support of Assemblyman Richard Brodsky’s state attorney general run, saying he’s “proud” of the outspoken Westchester Democrat has taken on “difficult and controversial matters, and changed the outcomes.”

“We can elect statewide leaders who know how to build coalitions and fix problems,” Silver continued in a statement released by Brodsky’s campaign. “He’ll be a great attorney general.”

Silver’s endorsement does not come as a big surprise. He told me during an interview on “Capital Tonight” last week that he would be supporting Brodsky, just as he generally supports any of his members who are seeking other offices.

Brodsky also rolled out the endorsements today of four other Manhattan Democratic Assembly members: Herman Farrell, Jr., Jonathan Bing, Brian Kavanagh and Richard Gottfried.

Brodsky’s release comes on the heels of an announcement by his primary opponent, Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice, that she has landed her first labor endorsement from RWDSU.

It’s worth noting that RWDSU President Stu Appelbaum was one of the first labor leaders to call for Gov. David Paterson not to run this fall (and this back in January, in other words: Pre-David Johnson) and for AG Andrew Cuomo to get into the race.

There’s a growing perception – and one that neither the AG nor anyone close to him has tried to shoot down – that Rice is Cuomo’s preferred AG candidate. Rice ducked that question during her interview with me last night, although she did first say that she has worked with Cuomo and speaks with him often.

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