N.Y. Gov Nixes Senate Run

If Rudy Giuliani quits his U.S. Senate bid, New York Republicans can forget about Gov. George Pataki as their Plan B against Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Republican governor said Thursday he won't run for Senate this year - even if Giuliani drops out due to his prostate cancer, which the Big Apple mayor disclosed one week ago. Giuliani has said he will take a few weeks to decide whether to stay in the race. Recent polls have shown Pataki as the overwhelming favorite among Republicans - as well as non-Republicans - to carry the GOP banner against the first lady in the event of a Giuliani withdrawal.

But I am not a candidate for the Senate," Pataki told reporters in New York City on Thursday.

"I have no intention of becoming a candidate for the Senate. I love my job as governor," he said. "We've accomplished a lot. There's more to do, and I'm going to continue to focus on trying to make this a better state."

Since Giuliani's cancer disclosure, speculation has swirled in some New York political circles that the mayor might bow out of the Senate race citing health reasons, but really because his heart wasn't in a legislative job, anyway. Add the positive, post-prostate poll numbers for Pataki (a former state lawmaker) and this scenario emerged: Giuliani quits the Senate race, Pataki jumps in, and the mayor keeps his nearly $20 million campaign war chest to run for New York governor in 2002. But Pataki effectively quashed that possibility on Thursday.

"I certainly think that Senator - that Mayor Giuliani will be running for the Senate and I certainly hope so,"

Pataki also said of Giuliani, often his rival over the years, "He's earned the right to be our party's nominee and I think he's earned the right to be our next senator. And if he runs I'm confident he would win and become our next senator."

But does Pataki still pine for the GOP's number two spot under George W. Bush, the Texas governor and old Yale classmate? If Pataki dreams about a George-and-George ticket for the White House, he kept that one to himself on Thursday.

"Well, I like very much being governor," he said when asked about a possible spot as Bush's running mate. "There's a lot more to do, and I'm going to continue to do my best to make this a better state."

One thing's for sure: Pataki's answer to that question didn't possess the ironclad "no" that the governor gave to the Senate race.