Albany, NY – State Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. Shelling Out Thousands For Fleet of ‘Vote for Diaz’ Vehicles

Albany, NY – Bronx state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. is New York’s car czar – at least when it comes to campaigning.

Diaz has shelled out thousands of dollars in campaign cash to outfit a fleet of seven vans and trucks that he says routinely prowls the streets of his district blaring music and the “Vote for Diaz” message.

“They are beautiful,” boasted Diaz, who faces a Sept. 14 Democratic primary against upstart community organizer Carlos (Charlie) Ramos.

While it’s not uncommon for lawmakers to use campaign money to pay for cars, Diaz’s automotive expenses are striking. The vehicles, some more than 10 years old, are costing Diaz big bucks to keep on the road.

Recent campaign filings show Diaz has spent more than $7,500 on automobile insurance payments, nearly $4,000 for registrations and inspections, and more than $5,340 on repairs and parts this year.

He also spent hundreds of additional dollars on gas, tolls and other automobile-related costs.

Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group said he does not object to Diaz’s automotive spending as long as the vans and trucks are used exclusively for campaigning.

Too many elected officials, Horner said, use campaign dollars simply to pay for the cars they use every day.

State Senate President Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) and Assembly Majority Whip Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) are among the many lawmakers who use campaign money to make car payments, campaign records show.

Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) even used campaign cash to pay a $40 parking ticket from the city of Albany.

“In terms of the law, you can do whatever you want,” Horner said. “That’s the crazy thing. We don’t think that they should be used for anything other than campaigning.”

Diaz, a Pentecostal minister, said the vehicles are registered to him or his wife, Leslie Yvette Diaz, and used exclusively for campaigning. Diaz’s vans also were used to aid ousted Sen. Hiram Monserrate in his unsuccessful bid to win back his Senate seat in a March special election, records show.

The vans and trucks – each painted white with red lettering – are kept at Diaz’s Christian Community Neighborhood Church. On evenings and weekends, they head out in caravans to alert voters to the pending primary.

“I am the master of street campaigning,” Diaz said. “I do street campaigning the way we used to do it in [Puerto Rico].”

Ramos shrugged off Diaz’s caravan as little more than “street theater.”

“It doesn’t get you elected,” Ramos said. “We want to go talk to the voters – door-to-door – and that’s the campaign we are going to be running.”

Ramos, a former aide to ex-city Controller William Thompson, has portrayed Diaz as a fixture in Albany’s broken political culture. His campaign is backed by several gay-rights organizations.

Diaz is among the Legislature’s most vocal opponents of gay marriage.