FLUSHING, NY (Nov. 1, 2008) -- Over 100 supporters from Northeast Queens and all over New York joined a number of elected officials and organizations for Democratic State Senate candidate Jim Gennaro's "Rally & Canvass for Change" at his Flushing campaign headquarters on Saturday, Nov. 1. Following the rally, many from the energized crowd fanned out across Senate District 11 and knocked on several thousand doors to speak to voters about Gennaro's campaign to bring fiscal fairness to Queens residents and reform to a dysfunctional State Senate by ousting 36-year Republican incumbent Frank Padavan. Elected officials at the rally included Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith, Senate Deputy Democratic Leader Jeff Klein, State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky and City Councilman John Liu. Other elected officials -- including Senator Eric Schneiderman, Senator Martin Dilan, Councilman Erik Dilan and Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr. -- also provided volunteers for the rally and canvass. Groups that helped organize the event and also sent canvassers include SEIU 32BJ, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500, NARAL Pro-Choice NY, Human Rights Campaign, Democracy for New York City, NYS Young Dems, Queens Young Dems and the St. John's College Democrats. Gennaro, a member of the City Council, focused his remarks on incumbent Republican senator Frank Padavan's record of voting against women's health and safety legislation, as well as for not having a plan to revitalize New York's economy. Councilman Gennaro is a former college professor and, as Chair of the Environmental Protection Committee, is one of the City Council's most prolific authors of legislation, much of it dedicated to green issues like promoting alternative energy, reducing greenhouse gases and keeping New York City's drinking water clean. He is also a consistent fighter against examples of fiscal unfairness, like the recent New York City water rate hike. Councilman Gennaro has been endorsed by The New York Times, The Queens Tribune, The Queens Ledger, Governor David Paterson, U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, as well as Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and many local Queens elected officials. He has also been endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters, SEIU Local 32BJ, Transit Workers Union Local 100, Local 3 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 and the Communication Workers of America Local 1180. The 11th Senate District includes the Northeast Queens neighborhoods of Auburndale, Bayside, Beechhurst, Bellerose, College Point, Douglaston, Floral Park, Flushing, Hillcrest Estates, Hollis, Holliswood, Jamaica Estates, Glen Oaks, Jamaica Hill, Linden Hill, Little Neck, Murray Hill, Oakland Gardens, Queens Village and Whitestone.