Republican leaders are prodding former Bush adviser Dan Senor to challenge Democrat Kristin Gillibrand for her New York Senate seat, the New York Times reported Thursday. Senor, an author, private equity executive, former Defense Department adviser to President George W. Bush and husband of CNN's Campbell Brown, is the latest on a list of candidates vetted by the GOP as potential New York Senate candidates. Though Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki and Mort Zuckerman didn't bite, the Times reports that Senor might seriously be considering sinking his teeth into this political endeavor.
A number of Republican bigwigs are now encouraging Senor to throw his hat in the ring. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani met with Senor recently to discuss a potential Senate run, the Times reports. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Michael R. Long, head of the New York Conservative Party, and Edward F. Cox, chairman of the New York Republican Party have also advocated Senor's candidacy, according to the Times.
As of now, Senor would face two primary opponents, Bruce A. Blakeman, a one-time New York mayoral candidate and David Malpass, an economist who served in the Reagan administration.
