(Reuters) – Six New York politicians were arrested for their alleged role in a bribery scandal in which a prominent Democrat paid top Republicans for permission to run on their ticket in the city’s upcoming mayoral race, prosecutors said.

Democratic state Senator Malcolm Smith and five Republicans connected to the bribery scandal were arrested on Tuesday morning, an official at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan said.

Prosecutors described the scheme as an attempt to game the city’s first wide-open mayoral election in 12 years. New York will choose a new mayor in November, when Michael Bloomberg’s third term comes to an end.

The charges include bribery, extortion, and wire and mail fraud.

“A show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of New York government,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “The complaint describes an unappetizing smorgasbord of graft and greed involving six officials who together built a corridor of corruption stretching from Queens and the Bronx to Rockland County and all the way up to Albany itself.”

Authorities arrested five Republicans: City Councilman Daniel Halloran, Queens County Republican Party Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone, Bronx County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Savino, Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Spring Valley Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret.

Representatives of the six officials all either declined to comment or did not respond to phone calls on Tuesday morning.

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