Council Member Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn, one of seven members vying to be elected the next speaker of the City Council, told The New York Sun yesterday that he has support in the “double digits.”

Mr. de Blasio’s declaration marks the first time one of the candidates has publicly stated his or her level of support. The move indicates that the race, which will be decided on January 4 during the first meeting of the council’s next session, is entering a more intense phase.

Also yesterday, the new leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, Vito Lopez, said that 10 City Council members have pledged to stick with him in deciding whom to back for speaker.

Mr. Lopez is scheduled to meet with the council’s Brooklyn delegation tonight in Bushwick. While the meeting was not called specifically to discuss the speaker’s race, the topic is sure to come up.

Mr. Lopez, an assemblyman from Bushwick, told the Sun that his coalition included nine council members from Brooklyn and one from another borough.

Those lobbying for the job are council members Christine Quinn of Manhattan; Melinda Katz, David Weprin, and Leroy Comrie of Queens; Lewis Fidler of Brooklyn, and Joel Rivera of the Bronx. The winner, who will need backing from a majority of the 51 members of the council, will replace the current speaker, Gifford Miller, who is being termed out of office.

Mr. de Blasio – who with Ms. Quinn is considered a front-runner – held a meeting with a number of members yesterday to discuss his candidacy. Some gathered in Manhattan and others were piped in via a conference call, he said.

Ms. Quinn said yesterday that she would not “put numbers out in the press” but that she was “having lots of meetings with folks” and “getting positive feedback.” She also is said to be the leading contender to get a large bloc of votes from Queens County.

While Mr. de Blasio would not get more specific about how much support he has, Council Member Letitia James, who participated in his meeting, said eight members were from Brooklyn.

The numbers offered by Ms. James and Mr. Lopez amount to more people than just those in Brooklyn’s 16-member delegation.

Mr. Lopez – who was elected as Brooklyn’s Democratic leader after the former leader, Clarence Norman Jr., was convicted on felony charges – would not say who committed to him, only that his support was solid. While he has a close relationship with Mr. Fidler, he said it was too soon to say whom his bloc would support.

Mr. de Blasio also kept it vague, but said he was staying in “very close communication” with Mr. Lopez. While some said that participants at Mr. de Blasio’s past meetings have not all been committed supporters, the Brooklyn council member said the opposite.

“I am pleased to have support in the double digits,” the council member said. “People who participate in my meetings are supporters. I am at the same time staying in very close communication with my county chairman and want to support his efforts to unify Brooklyn.”

The borough’s delegation has historically splintered, preventing it from leveraging its power as the largest delegation to influence the outcome of the race.

As a result, Brooklyn has been largely cut out of the political haggling that has allowed other boroughs, most notably Queens, from using its bloc of support either to elect a speaker from its own borough or get chairmanships on the most influential council committees. Queens County has a reputation for staying together and brokering plum deals.

This year, many political observers and analysts are watching to see whether Brooklyn will be able to unify at least partially.

“Four years ago Brooklyn didn’t participate in the process; there were very few committees in Brooklyn, even though we are the largest delegation,” Mr. Lopez said during a telephone interview. “I’m working real hard to prevent that from happening.”

Four years ago, Queens and the Bronx brokered a deal that helped to elect Mr. Miller. This time, Mr. Lopez said his first priority is getting a Brooklyn council member elected speaker. If that can’t happen, he said he wants to ensure that it has both access to the speaker and leadership on committees.

Council Member Tony Avella of Queens said that while there may be blocs of members forming now, things could easily change.

“The question is: Does the coalition hold together at the end of the day if the county leader says, ‘Hey go with this person’ and people don’t like it?”

Several sources said the winner probably will not be chosen until late December or early January.