Big news in the Big Apple:
Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has decided not to run for governor of New York next year after months of mulling a candidacy, according to people who have been told of the decision....
It was not clear what prompted the decision, but the prospect of potentially facing Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who is quietly planning his own run for governor, may not have appealed to Mr. Giuliani, who suffered a bruising defeat in the 2008 Republican presidential primary. While many political analysts believe Mr. Giuliani would have comfortably beaten Gov. David A. Paterson, he would likely have faced an uphill battle against Mr. Cuomo, one of the most popular politicians in the state.
New York Democrats must be sighing with relief over the prospect, however remote it may have been, of not having to face a Giuliani/Paterson matchup. Of course, this may make it likelier that incumbent Gov. Paterson stays in the race, seeing as how even he seems to have a good shot at beating the likely GOP nominee, ex-Rep. Rick Lazio. But this also makes it likelier that AG Andrew Cuomo pulls the trigger on a run (he's already assembling plans behind the scenes, including a full slate of Dems to run with), since, given his titanic polling leads over both Paterson in the primary and Lazio in the general, it's pretty much a governorship for the taking for him now.
One other NY-Gov topic: Rasmussen released a poll of the general election matchups in the race yesterday, although the poll's now looking obsolete already. Interestingly, it had one of Giuliani's best performances so far, with Rudy trailing Cuomo only 49-46. (Giuliani beats Paterson 57-30. Cuomo beats Lazio 57-29, while Lazio beats Paterson 41-37.) Giuliani may well have decided against a run well in advance of this poll, though, simply given the state's lean and the financial challenges of a run against Cuomo -- and probably that if he somehow won it'd be a lot less lucrative and more frustrating than his current "job" as national security talking head and consultant.
UPDATE: For what it's worth, according to NY1, Giuliani is now calling the New York Times story "premature" and saying he has not finalized a decision. (H/t andyroo312.)
LATER UPDATE: Wow, crazy rumors are flying all over the place now. The New York Daily News has him headed to the Senate race instead:
"In the next 48 hours he will announce that he will not run for governor, but will run for the Senate," said a source familiar with the thing of the former mayor and failed presidential candidate....
If elected, the source said, he would use that as a stepping stone to run for President in 2012 - and would not run for re-election to the Senate. A Giuliani spokeswoman downplayed the reports.
CNN, on the other hand, is merely saying, via Giuliani spokesperson Maria Comella, that Giuliani hasn't decided bupkus yet, and they'll keep us posted.
EVEN LATER UPDATE: Comella gives a pretty explicit and succinct denial to Politico's Ben Smith, regarding the Senate rumor: "It's not true." Smith says that if Giuliani did run for the Senate, it would come as a surprise to members of his inner circle.
RaceTracker Wiki: NY-Gov |
