Former NYC Mayor Giuliani May Run For a U.S. Senate Seat

Turns out that former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani may not be running for Governor after all. Instead reports are that he'll enter the race to be a U.S. Senator from New York on the GOP ticket.

Rudolph Giuliani is now expected to pursue a New York U.S. Senate seat, rather than a run for Governor. The New York Daily News reports that sources say if he wins the Senate, Guiliani may then take another stab at a White House run in 2012. The Republican is as the GOP's best shot at reclaiming the New York governor's mansion, and removing sitting Governor Democrat David Paterson. So far, the only Republican candidate for the Senate seat is former Long Island Congressman Rick Lazio. Sources say Giuliani is planning now to run for the Senate seat against appointed democrat, Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010. It would be to fill out the remains of Hillary Clinton's term But whether this is true or not is up for speculation. A Giuliani spokeswoman says no decision has been made yet.

"Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it. When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own."

Guy Molinari the Former Borough President of Staten Island, a close friend of Giuliani, says the former mayor has shared doubts with him for months about running for governor. He shared with the Daily News a conversation he had with Giuliani in early November of this year...

"What he said to me is that he doesn't think he's going to do it, It just didn't make any sense to him."

New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is also thinking about running for Governor, but has not yet announced. And Governor Paterson, who trails Cuomo by as much as 59 points in mockup matchups, nsists he is running, even though President Obama has indicated he'd "prefer" he didn't. A Marist poll taken just yesterday shows Giuliani losing to Cuomo 53% to 43% in a race for governor, but beating Gillibrand 54% to 40% for the Senate nomination. Molinari says he likes the idea of Giuliani running for U.S. Senate.

"Some of us, including myself, feel like that would be a better fit because he could use his talents there almost immediately. You get the sense that he'd be a major player [in the U.S. Senate] from day one."

If elected to the Senate, one source said, Giuliani could use that as a stepping stone to run for President in 2012 - rather than run for re-election to the Senate. But Giuliani's lifestyle as a former Mayor is quite comfortable. If he ran he'd have to give up his appearances on TV talk shows, the big money he takes in for speeches and his law firm is reportedly doing quite well. There are also reports that former Gov. George Pataki has been eying a run for the U.S. Senate. But he now says that Giuliani's decision will have no impact on his whether he runs or not.