In a very early look at the next mayoral election, which won’t happen for another two-plus years, Quinnipiac finds Police Commissioner Ray Kelly easily leading a crowded, Weiner-less field. On the one hand, this is not surprising: There are about 1,000 or so prospective Democratic candidates splitting the Democratic vote, while Kelly, an independent who would probably run as a Republican, has the GOP field all to himself at this point (the poll didn’t ask about Dick Grasso, or, on the Democratic side, Alec Baldwin). But! The cross-tab numbers show Kelly in a strong position regardless. Among Democratic voters only, he receives 17 percent support, second only to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. And he leads all candidates among independents with 27 percent support. Just one problem, pollster Mickey Carroll points out:
That’s not exactly true. While Kelly hasn’t (publicly) expressed any interest in running in 2013, he’s been flirting with the idea for a long time. In 1995, he refused to rule out a 1997 run against Rudy Giuliani, and he entertained the idea of a candidacy in 2009 before Mayor Bloomberg decided to stick around for another term, according to reporting by New York’s own Geoffrey Gray:
Perhaps flattering polls like today’s will rekindle Kelly’s interest in a mayoral run one more time, but for now, his thoughts on 2013 remain a mystery.
