Late Lobbying for Support as Speaker Election Nears With little time left in the contest to choose a new speaker of the New York City Council, the forces allied with Mayor Bill de Blasio were working furiously into the night on Tuesday to squelch any remaining chance that his handpicked candidate, Melissa Mark-Viverito, could be defeated. Her challenger, Daniel R. Garodnick, appeared to be heading into the noon vote on Wednesday a decided underdog, needing to sway some six votes out of the 51 to be cast. But he was benefiting from the determined advocacy of Representative Joseph Crowley, the powerful leader of the Queens Democratic organization, who was far from giving up the fight. Mr. Crowley was said to be leaning particularly heavily on the handful of Queens County council members backing Ms. Mark-Viverito, an East Harlem member of the Progressive Caucus. And the appeals were personal, according to one council member aware of some of Mr. Crowley's urgings: that Queens residents now employed in the speaker's office - as a result of the county's role in deciding previous races for the post - would lose their jobs if Ms. Mark-Viverito won. Driving home that concern, some senior staff members in the speaker's office have also directly called Queens council members to urge them to vote for Mr. Garodnick, said the same council member, who insisted on anonymity to avoid antagonizing Mr. Crowley. The congressman declined to comment on Tuesday. Mr. Crowley, who seemed to be investing a good deal of his prestige on Mr. Garodnick's behalf, was expected to attend the vote on Wednesday, which some suggested could become an uncommonly bitter and open fight on the Council floor. Still, supporters of Ms. Mark-Viverito expressed confidence that they had the votes to win. Thirty of the 51 council members put their names on a news release expressing support of Ms. Mark-Viverito in December. But Ms. Mark-Viverito's supporters were taking no chances. To ensure no defections, they planned to meet Wednesday morning in her office at 250 Broadway and then walk across the street to City Hall, en masse, for the noon meeting. Supporters of Ms. Mark-Viverito blamed the other side for a series of negative articles about her, including one in The Daily News that noted that she had not reported rental income from a three-unit townhouse she owns in East Harlem on city ethics forms. Her spokesman later acknowledged the lapse, calling it an unintentional mistake. Mr. de Blasio, meanwhile, has been criticized for meddling in the speaker's race, especially since, during the Democratic mayoral primary, he repeatedly accused the former speaker, and one of his opponents, Christine C. Quinn, of being too close to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The new speaker would be the second most powerful city official and the one most capable of standing up to a mayor - or ramming through his agenda. Addressing the charge of hypocrisy on Tuesday, Mr. de Blasio said that his support for Ms. Mark-Viverito and Mr. Bloomberg's close ties to Ms. Quinn were "profoundly different realities," though he did not explain how. And he dismissed concerns that, if Ms. Mark-Viverito were elected, the Council would not be an effective check on his power. "She will be independent, I have no doubt about it," he said. "I think if she's chosen, she'll do a great job," he added, "and I think we have very similar values and goals for the city. But I guarantee you, there will be a lot of independence. Amid the uncertainty and the unseen machinations, one thing seemed likely: In a break with recent tradition, the vote would not be unanimous. Some supporters of Ms. Mark-Viverito said they expected a few more council members to join their side before the roll call on Wednesday, but they had given up hopes for a 51-to-0 vote. Mr. de Blasio went to the Bronx on Sunday night to meet with Carl E. Heastie, the Bronx Democratic Party chairman, and council members there who were supporting Mr. Garodnick. But as of Tuesday afternoon, one of the members who attended the meeting, Maria del Carmen Arroyo, said that she was holding firm. "Twenty-four hours is an eternity, and my hope and my belief is that Dan will be successful," she said. People on both sides said that they were prepared for the arm-twisting to continue until the very last minute, and Ms. Mark-Viverito's supporters said they had discussed the possibility that Mr. Garodnick's side might try to use parliamentary tactics to forestall the vote. At a meeting at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Monday, her supporters reviewed the Council rules, just in case. Adding an additional layer of potential intrigue, in the absence of a speaker, the meeting will be presided over by the city clerk, Michael McSweeney - who happens to be a former aide to Mr. Crowley.