Reports that Mayor Bloomberg urged Hillary Clinton to run for mayor in 2013 suggest he might not be thrilled with the current field, but at least Christine Quinn doesn’t have to worry about Bloomberg backing Joe Lhota. The New York Times reports that the MTA chief is now “seriously considering” entering the race, and even raised the idea with Bloomberg during a meeting on Monday. Though Rudy Giuliani has already endorsed Lhota, the current mayor didn’t encourage him to run. (Calling Bloomberg an “idiot” probably didn’t help.) Lhota’s theoretical campaign was dealt another blow recently when a Quinnipiac poll found that while most people think the MTA’s response to Hurricane Sandy was good, 45 percent of voters disapprove of Lhota’s job performance and only 38 percent approve. If the mayoral race were held today, Lhota would lose to “unnamed Democrat” 60 to 9.
