The big endorsement teased earlier today by Staten Island DA Dan Donovan’s campaign is former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, two sources with knowledge of the announcement confirm.

Koch, of course, is a Democrat and Donovan is a Republican – a fact I’m sure the DA’s campaign is going to try to spin as proof of his ability to appeal to voters across party lines, particularly more conservative upstate Democrats and small-i independents.

This line of reasoning could play well if the winner of today’s five-way Democratic AG primary is Sen. Eric Schneiderman, who members of his own party – including, reportedly, gubernatorial frontrunner Andrew Cuomo – worry is too liberal to play upstate and therefore vulnerable to losing to Donovan.

However, Koch isn’t exactly your dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. He has a history of endorsing Republicans – most notably former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former US Sen. Al D’Amato, former Gov. George Pataki for Governor, President George W. Bush and Mayor Bloomberg (who used to be a Democrat, to be fair, and is now a blank).

Also, remember that Bloomberg is a big Donovan backer, and Koch is a big Bloomberg backer. He also has a show – “The Voice of Reason” – on Bloomberg radio.

Earlier this year, Koch rescinded his 2008 support for President Obama, citing a concern that the president could hurt American-Israeli relations. (The former mayor is a Jew and very Hawkish when it comes to Israel).

To be fair, Koch has never changed his enrollment, and he has also endorsed plenty of Democrats, including Eliot Spitzer for governor in 2006 and Bill Bradley for president in 2000.

Koch has raised his statewide profile this year with his NY Uprising PAC and its trio of reform pledges, which he used as a litmus test for dubbing candidates “heroes” or “enemies” of reform – a message he took on the road.

Then again, there are some people living north of NYC who still recall his insults to upstate in a Playboy interview that likely cost him the 1982 gubernatorial primary. (He lost to Mario Cuomo).

Koch recently told me those comments were “stupid” and insisted he would have been a better governor for upstate than anyone who has held the job since the 80s.

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