Oliver Koppell, said, “I got 64 percent. Last time I got 76 percent. I think the difference was largely term limits. But part of it was there was a better campaign.”

James Sanders, for whom Michael Bloomberg raised money, said he’s undecided about the mayor's race. “I’m in consultation, I’m in dialogue with both.” When I asked if he’s open to endorsing Bloomberg, Sanders said, “Sure. Or Thompson.”

Alan Gerson, who lost his primary to Margaret Chin, said his vote to support the term limits extension “probably depressed our vote slightly. I don’t think it was a decisive factor." He added, “What was more significant than term limits was the unusually low voter turnout in all the areas except Margaret’s stronghold.”

Domenic Recchia, who played a leading role in getting the term limits extension passed, said, “I didn’t have an opponent. How much of a factor could it have been?”

Darlene Mealy, who voted for the extension and narrowly edged out a victory over former Council member Tracy Boyland, said, “It really wasn’t a factor out here.”

Diana Reyna, who voted for the extension and beat a challenger supported by the Brooklyn Democratic County leader, said, “It was brought up, but not as often as people would have thought.”

Inez Dickens said, about Christine Quinn refusing to commit to supporting Thompson, “I haven’t had a discussion with her about it. Yes, I have read in the paper that she has not yet. But there are others who have not yet endorsed.”

Larry Seabrook, who endorsed Bloomberg in 2005 and voted to extend term limits, said, “I'm with Thompson," and "I think all the Democrats will be endorsing the Democratic nominee.” He said, “When I endorsed the mayor the last time around, I looked at the situation and he was the best guy at the time to deal with those issues.”

The event, which took place on April 27 in her district, is the latest personal gesture of support by Bloomberg for members of the City Council who voted for his term-limits extension last year. Bloomberg also threw a fund-raiser for James Sanders, and attended one for Peter Vallone Jr.

An aide said it was the organizer of the fund-raiser who invited the mayor, not Gonzalez herself. Bloomberg, according to this aide, was in the neighborhood filming a campaign commercial and decided to stop by.

Not surprisingly, David Galarza, who is challenging Gonzales, sees this as an opportunity. He emailed me to say, “Now we know what Sara Gonzalez got in return for her term limits extension vote. Mayor Bloomberg has turned City Hall into a 99 Cent store. Council Members are flying off the shelves and into his pockets.”

Gonzalez’s spokesman, Michael Schweinburg, told me, “She certainly didn’t do this  because of Bloomberg.”

Gonzalez, it should be noted, is not term-limited this year, and would have been one of the most senior members of the Council if the extension was not passed. (There was talk, albeit by her aides, that she might run for speaker.)

Sanders is a natural choice for Bloomberg to back. The councilman voted to support the term-limits extension and was the only Council member to abstain on an amendment that would have required the measure to go through a public referendum. The amendment failed to get a majority.

Sanders had not raised any money for his re-election before last night.

The fund-raiser is the not the first time Bloomberg lent his presence to a Democratic City Council member who supported the term-limits change. On March 19, Bloomberg stopped by the fund-raiser of City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr..

Bloomberg has also previously raised money for City Councilman Simcha Felder, a prolific fund-raiser.(Felder also supported Bloomberg's term-limits extension.)

Last night's event is also a sign of Sanders' return to the inner power-circle at City Hall. After winning re-election in 2005, he lost his committee chairmanship, making him one of the few Democratic Council members without such a perk. Also, he failed to get the backing of the Queens Democratic Party when he was up for re-election against local resident David Hooks Jr.the same year.

At the time, the Queens County Democratic organization members said they were swayed by local district leaders who complained Sanders was aloof and not responsive to their needs. In interviews, Sanders admitted he may have focused a bit too much attention on his responsibilities in City Hall, rather than in his district.

A spokesman at Sanders office in Queens said they would respond shortly with a comment.

The event is taking place at 7 p.m. at Sanders’ district office in Laurelton.

“He came out of the intensive care unit today,” said Sanders’ wife, Andrea in a brief telephone interview this afternoon. “I expect a full recovery.”

Sanders is being treated at New York Presbyterian Hospital, she said. 

“By the grace of God I am alive today,” said the Councilman in a public statement released by his office this afternoon, the first time it has made public any details of the accident.

According to the statement, “a sudden down pour of rain caused a vehicle carrying City Councilman James Sanders Jr., and two others to crash, and roll over several times.” The incident, according to the statement, occurred “near Newburgh.“

The men were on their way back from a trip to help set up a youth retreat in Pennsylvania.

Andrea Sanders said her husband and two passengers in the car that afternoon were treated in St. Lukes Hospital, near Newburgh.

The two other passengers were identified as Community Board District Manager Donovan Richards and friend Mike Duvall, who were treated for injuries and released.

A woman who answered the phone there did not say when she expected Sanders, a Democrat, to be released or how he will participate in budget negotiations, which are currently underway at City Hall.

When I asked if he was boasting to his New York colleagues about backing the winner in the primary, Sanders laughed heartily and said no. He added, jokingly, that the official word from the Obama campaign to supporters like him is: "No smugness."

"The battle in Afghanistan, we have to win," Sanders said. "There, I justify putting in more troops."