Hillary Clinton is seriously considering a run for New York mayor, according to a major city political insider, who claims she’s “50-50.”
Supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis said he talked to the failed Democratic presidential nominee, and came away convinced she may try to resurrect her political career by challenging Mayor Bill de Blasio this year.
“I spoke to her about it, but she didn’t indicate or signal to me [whether she would run]. She didn’t say never, she didn’t say no. In my personal opinion, it’s 50-50,” the billionaire owner of Gristedes Foods told The Real Deal real estate blog Monday.
Catsimatidis, who supported Clinton as a donor, said he will delay his own decision to run for mayor until the former secretary of state makes up her mind.
“If Hillary runs, I won’t,” said Catsimatidis, who ran in the 2013 New York mayoral primary as a Republican, but lost to Joe Lhota.
Catsimatidis’ claim comes as reports say Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, are talking to top advisers about how they can get back into the political fray.
Hillary is receiving briefings from her former campaign manager Robby Mook explaining what went wrong in the presidential race, while Bill has been blasting FBI Director James Comey for interfering in the election, according to Politico.
Despite what Catsimitidis thinks, the article said neither Clinton is expected to seek public office again, but former Democratic National Committee chairman Ed Rendell told the website, “I’m certain [President Donald] Trump will screw up enough that by the fall of ’18, Hillary’s numbers will be way up again.”
For now, Hillary is enjoying nights out and is considering spending more time writing.
Bill, meanwhile, has re-devoted himself to the Clinton Foundation, which took a beating during the presidential campaign.
Then-candidate Donald Trump referred to the foundation as a “criminal enterprise,” although last week at an inaugural luncheon, he praised the Clintons.
Echoing what the report said, a leading Democrat claimed that a comeback by the Clintons likely would not include another campaign for either one.
“On a personal level, I lost a race in 2014, and it was on a much, much smaller scale than what she lost,” said former two-term Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, adding, “I don’t think a team of mules could drag them [into running].”