Results tagged “ricklazio”

After months (years?) of speculation, former mayor Rudy Giuliani is not going to run for governor—but will set his sights on the Senate seat now occupied by Kirsten Gillibrand, according to various media outlets that spoke to anonymous sources.

Rick Lazio, former L.I. Congressman and the guy who ran for a Senate seat against Hillary Clinon, feels good about his 2010 chances, after GOP gubernatorial victories in NJ and Virginia. He told WCBS 2, "Tuesday was, to me, very much a validation of my message. Government has become unresponsive, unaccountable and the people have lost faith." Marist pollster Lee Miringoff said, "Clearly, economic discontent is running extensively throughout the electorate as are the winds of change. If your first name is 'governor' right now, it makes it hard," adding, "People don't know who [Lazio] is, so there is not great name recognition there. So this is all potential." But if Governor Paterson's last ditch efforts don't work, Lazio may have to face...Andrew Cuomo.

On the heels of news that Governor Paterson is one (giant leap of a) step not closer to running for reelection, Rick Lazio is finally ready to give us the craved announcement of the 2010 campaign season—throwing his hat into the govenor's race Tuesday even though he basically all but said it months ago. That will likely soon be followed by Rudy "I'll only beat myself" Giuliani once again making Lazio the sacrificial lamb, this time to Andrew Cuomo. [Newsday]

Rick Lazio, best known for losing against Hillary Clinton in 2000 when she ran for Senate, has officially thrown his hat into the 2010 New York gubernatorial ring. After a few months of speculation, he sent a letter to supporters this weekend, "The present government in Albany is broken. It is a national embarrassment. It can’t be fixed by tweaking it here and there. It is dysfunctional and we need to start all over from the beginning." Of course, the 800-pound gorilla in the Republican sphere is Rudy Giuliani, but there's some rumor he might be better suited running against Kirsten Gillibrand. When PolitickerNY asked Governor Paterson what he thought of Lazio's announcement, he said, "Since I'm not seeking the Republican nomination, and this is a democracy, I would say that's a good idea."

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."

Rick Lazio, who waged a battle against Hillary Clinton in 2000 for a Senate seat, is telling fellow Republicans to look on the bright side. According to the Daily News, Lazio referred to the GOP's losses around the state at a Conservative Party benefit, "This gives us an opportunity to rebuild ourselves, to not compromise ourselves... We can look at this and we can be discouraged, or we can look at this and we can say this may be our moment." Since Lazio's name has been mentioned alongside Rudy Giuliani's as a possible gubernatorial candidate in 2010, Newsday notes that Lazio admitted to thinking about 2010; he also said, "This isn't a stump speech... But I think the state is moving in the wrong direction."

The last time Chuck Schumer ran for reelection for his Senate seat in 2004, he was victorious by the widest margin in state history at 71% to 24%. Right now it appears that he could top that in his bid for reelection next year. With the mayor going for a third term, Giuliani and Lazio considering a shot at the state house and Peter King already eying the Senate seat now held by Kirsten Gillibrand, Republicans are essentially looking for a jobber to throw up against Chuck. When asked who might run, Conservative Party chief Mike Long said, "If you're trying to ask a 'gotcha' question, I guess you got me." One poli-sci professor described it, "You've got (Muhammad) Ali in one corner and a couple of guys from the high school gym in the other." But with the recent attention drawn to his lax standards for Wall Street before the economic crisis, GOP operative Roger Stone thinks Schumer should be considered more vulnerable saying, "He should be the poster child for the financial meltdown." The last time a Republican won a Senate race in New York was 1992.

Move over, Rudy! It's a blast from the past, as Rick Lazio, who ran against Hillary Clinton in 2000 for the Senate seat, is rumored to be considering a go for governor. Assemblyman Philip Boyle tells Newsday, "He is in the exploratory stage. I think he would make a tremendous candidate." Lazio, an executive vice president at JP Morgan Chase, has reportedly had conversations with various GOP types, who believe Governor Paterson could be vulnerable in 2010 if the economy continues to go south, but the former Representative would only tell the NY Times, "It’s an honor to be thought of as an attractive candidate." Naturally, Lazio will have to wait and see what GOP fave Giuliani does—remember, it was only when Giuliani decided not to run against Clinton in 2000 (Giuliani had both prostate cancer and an affair with now wife Judi Nathan at the time) that Lazio entered that race.