The vote in May by Queens Democratic district leaders to support City Council Member Hiram Monserrate for State Senate over three-term incumbent John Sabini was not quite an earthquake, but the unusual move has caused tremors among the party's elected representatives.

“They threw him under the bus,” one elected official said. “With this done, you are put on notice if you have a challenger who is strong enough to beat you...they may not endorse you. Today it is Sabini, but tomorrow it may be me.”

Monserrate prevailed with 12 votes in favor and two abstentions at the May 23 ballot to determine who the county would support in the Sept. 9 primary. The two abstentions were from district leaders allied with Borough President Helen Marshall, a bitter rival of Monserrate.

This is Monserrate's second run for the seat. He narrowly lost in 2006 as an insurgent challenger for the heavily Latino district that covers Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst and a portion of Woodside. If victorious, he would be the first Latino senator from Queens.

In 2001, he was elected the borough's first Latino Council member.

To Monserrate, those historic strides are important.

“I think it is a good opportunity for the party to build even more goodwill in communities that have been disenfranchised and to empower progressive Democrats,” he said.

Party officials said far from throwing Sabini under the bus, the long-time Democrat was abandoned because he was not doing enough to help himself.

Michael Reich, the organization's executive secretary, said in 2006 the party pushed hard to help the senator. Then-county leader Thomas Manton convinced four unions annoyed with Sabini to support him, the party raised money, and it brought Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) to Queens to endorse him. Yet he only squeaked by.

The party was not ready to do that again this year, Reich said.

“Do we do all that and on top of that try to figure out how he is going to keep the 247-vote margin when the district has become more Latino, not less, in the last two years?” Reich asked. “And on top of that, he has his own personal legal issues which didn't help, which didn’t make it easier for us going forward.”

Sabini was arrested Sept. 27 in Albany and charged with driving while his ability was impaired. He refused a Breathalyzer test, and for that, his license was revoked for one year.

He pleaded guilty to the charge on Feb. 5.

Assembly Member Ivan Lafayette (D-Queens) said Sabini's reserved style impeded party relationships.

“I have known him since he was a teenager, and he is a member of my club, but I don’t have any communication with him,” Lafayette said. “We both serve in Albany and I have never been out to dinner with him.”

Sabini has since been nominated to head the state Racing and Wagering Board, sidestepping a primary showdown. But for some, the Queens party vote remains a sore point. District leader Veta Brome, who abstained, said little when asked.

“I was there and that was it. Politics is what it is, but I am not going to comment,” she said.

Council Member Helen Sears (D), too, refused to discuss what happened, saying it was a private party matter.

“It was a difficult decision,” she said.

District leader Dorothy Phelan, who voted to back Sabini, said the party was responding to the changing demographics, but noted that some wanted to stick with the incumbent.

Sabini's troubles were exacerbated by a poll taken this spring that showed his support was weak, several insiders said.

Sabini did not comment on the poll.

Reich said, “If a poll was conducted it was John's poll. I am not going to confirm or deny anything about the poll.”

Long before the racing board appointment, the county apparently sought to avoid a contested vote and offered to find Sabini a “high-level” job outside the Senate, several sources said.

Sabini denied he was offered anything.

“It is not something I would trade for,” he said, referring to his seat.

Some insiders suspect Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens/Bronx), the Queens County chair, may have wanted to protect his own seat from a potential rival. In 2004, Monserrate threatened to challenge Crowley, but ultimately opted against a run. Insiders said if Monserrate were settled in the Senate, he would be less likely to challenge Crowley before redistricting in 2012 gave him a more favorable district.

That is in part because Monserrate would not be able to run petitions for the Senate seat and the Congressional seat at the same time, meaning he would have to give up his seat to challenge Crowley, according to state rules.

Others believed the county was looking after its own. Monserrate and Assembly Member Jose Peralta (D-Queens) were planning to run as many as six challengers against incumbent district leaders, several sources said.

It was the charismatic and scrappy Council member himself who pressured the party to act, according to one insider.

“The bigger story is Hiram made this happen. If he hadn’t run for district leader and fought off a primary challenge...and ran hard again against John two years ago and came back strong. He forced county to dump Sabini.”