Rick Lazio Intends To Run For Governor

Rick Lazio's most famous political race, running for Senate against Hillary Clinton in 2000, may have been doomed from the get-go after being relegated to a position on catch-up after a later exit by expected GOP candidate Rudy Giuliani. Almost ten years later, it appears that Lazio won't let Rudy's potential waffling cost him again as he appears to be throwing his hat in the ring as the first serious challenger to Governor Paterson's 2010 election bid. Lazio's spokesman said that he fully intends to run after people began buzzing about his new website seemingly announcing a run. On the site, Lazio said, "This campaign will be about the future of New York and what kind of New York we want our children and grandchildren to inherit." Today Lazio also followed Giuliani's lead in calling for change in Albany, calling for doing away with the Senate and Assembly altogether and replacing it with "a new legislative branch comprised of a single body." In a recent fundraising pitch, he also called Albany a "national embarrassment."