Breaking News: A Republican on the Mayor's Team?

Wonder how in the world in the Albany Times Union seems to have scooped Room 9 on a significant staffing development on Mike for Mayor campaign?

Joining Bloomberg team

John Haggerty Jr., who heads Pataki's legislative affairs office, will leave his $99,425-a-year state job to return downstate. The Queens native will be New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's deputy campaign manager, administration sources said.

Haggerty, who also worked for former Republican state Attorney General Dennis Vacco, is the son of Jack Haggerty, chief counsel and adviser to former Senate Majority Leader Warren Anderson.

Might the placement of this item in an upstate paper be a good way to reduce the attention it receives downstate? Compare it to the exclusive B1 Times attention that the MfM hires of Tolbert, Brennan and Loeser received. We'll see.