Assembly colleagues Adriano Espaillat and Mike Gianaris, both of whom are looking to move on to the state Senate, have cross-endorsed one another in hopes of continuing their professional partnership on the other side of the Capitol.

Gianaris is running unopposed for the 12th SD seat being vacated by retiring Queens Sen. George Onorato. UPDATE: Gianaris is unopposed in the primary. He does have a Republican opponent, Jerome Patrick Tina Jr.

Espaillat’s effort to join the Senate Democrats’ is a bit more complicated, as he’s running in a four-way primary for the seat in the 31st SD (upper Manhattan and the Bronx) that Sen. Eric Schneiderman is giving up to run for state attorney general.

In a press releasing announcing their mutual admiration society, Espaillat and Gianaris took turns praising one another’s reform records.

Gianaris, for example, noted the assemblyman has been a lead co-sponsor of his independent redistricting bill, which was none too popular among his legislative colleagues until this year’s big push for nonpartisan redistricting came along (in no small part thanks to former NYC Mayor Ed Koch and his NY Uprising PAC).

Espaillat responded in kind, saying Gianaris’ “commitment to independent redistricting speaks to his commitment to reform Albany so as to ensure that New York has a State Government that is fair, transparent, effective and responsible.”

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