Sen. Joe Addabbo isn’t too concerned about how his vote in favor of same-sex marriage will play in Queens district, even as his Republican opponent Erich Ulrich tries to paint him as a “flip flopper.”

Last night on the show, Liz asked Ulrich, a major New York City supporter of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney (who has been accused of a few flip-flops in his day), how the vote in favor would play. Addabbo was one of several Democrats in the Senate who had cast no votes against the bill the last time the measure came up in 2009, but relented during last year’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo-led push.

“I think that his flip-flop on gay marriage is going to hurt him,” Ulrich said. “I don’t believe that I’ll have to bring that up. I think that that’s clear as day.”

My NY1 colleague Zack Fink caught up with Addabbo, who practically downplayed the significance of the vote.

“We vote here in Albany on well over 2,000 pieces of legislation and the marriage equality bill was to benefit a certain segment of the population,” Addabbo said. “We vote on issues like the budget which effects everybody. I think a year later from the marriage bill people realize for many it didn’t concern them and it’s a non-issue for many of the people that I speak to in my district.”

He added voters in the district care more about pocket-book issues.

“I think people are more concerned about the issues that concern them each and every day like taxes and health care,” he said.

As Liz noted this morning, the four Senate Republican yes votes have been showered with both praise and money from deep-pocketed LGBT advocates. But the Democrats who changed their votes haven’t fared as well.

Sen. Carl Kruger, who The New York Post outed in a front-page story, is no longer in office following a guilty plea in a federal corruption case. Sen. Shirley Huntley has also faced questions over her staff’s use of public dollars.

Former Sen. Bill Stachowksi of Buffalo, a “no” vote in 2009, was defeated by Sen. Tim Kennedy in a Democratic primary that saw a major effort of fundraising from gay marriage advocates. Kennedy voted for the measure.

Share|