In N.Y., doubts greet speculation on a Weld gubernatorial bid

Democrats and Republicans reacted more with skepticism than excitement yesterday to reports that former governor William F. Weld might run for governor of New York, if Governor George Pataki vacates the post to run for the presidency in 2008.

Michael Long, chairman of the Conservative Party in New York, dismissed speculation that Weld would run for governor. Long said he had heard some Republican operatives discussing the possibility during the party's convention in New York City last year, but he said the chatter quickly died down.

''A couple of people around the convention said it -- and said it a little prior and maybe after -- but I haven't heard anything since," Long said yesterday.

The speculation by New York political operatives about Weld's electoral future in the Empire State was being fanned by two published reports, which suggested the Republican who once led Massachusetts might be weighing a run in the state where he was born and has called home for five years.

The Associated Press, quoting a New York Republican official who spoke on condition of anonymity, yesterday said Weld has had discussions with state party officials about a possible run for governor or US senator. The official told the Associated Press that there have been staff-level discussions between the two camps and direct conversations between at least one other top GOP official and Weld.

Newyorkmetro.com, the online affiliate of New York magazine, also reported that Weld has been telling associates that New York GOP leaders have approached him and asked him to consider a run for senator or governor. Weld did not respond yesterday to several phone messages left at the office of his equity firm, Leeds Weld & Co., and at another number.

Ryan Moses, executive director of the New York Republican Party, said Weld hasn't discussed his political future with party leaders.

George Arzt, a Democratic political consultant in New York City, scoffed at the notion of a Weld run. ''He has been around but not active in Republican circles. . . . He is barely mentioned," said Arzt, who asserted that New York voters would scorn Weld, who was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997, as a ''carpetbagger."

Recently, Bob Kerrey, former Nebraska senator and governor who is now president of New School University in New York, generated speculation that he might run for mayor, then quashed it after some political operatives grumbled about his out-of-state roots. ''Even though Omaha is farther from Boston, it makes no difference," Arzt said. ''Boundaries are boundaries."

It is not clear whether Pataki will run for a fourth term next year or seek national office in 2008. Analysts suggest that he will not run for governor, but a spokesperson for Pataki said yesterday that he has yet to make a decision.

Pataki is expected to announce his decision in June. Speculation that he will run for president in 2008 heightened this month when a report showed contributions to a Virginia-based political PAC used by the governor to raise his national profile have increased dramatically.

A total of $630,000 was raised during the first three months of this year, according to the Associated Press, which reviewed Pataki's campaign finance records. If Weld were to run and win in New York, his victory would be historic. Sam Houston is the only two-state governor in history, having served as governor of Tennessee from 1827 to 1829 and Texas from 1859 to 1861.

Since moving back to New York five years ago from Massachusetts, Weld has kept speculation alive that he might run for governor of the state where he grew up. Raised on Long Island, Weld maintained a vacation retreat in New York's Adirondack Mountains even while governor of Massachusetts.

''I'd be hard to stop" if I ran for governor of New York, Weld had told the AP in a 2000 interview.

Weld was elected governor of Massachusetts in 1990 and re-elected in 1994. He was defeated in a 1996 US Senate race by Democratic incumbent John Kerry and resigned the next year to pursue his nomination by President Clinton's nomination to become US ambassador to Mexico. That was blocked by Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, then chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Material from Associated Press was included in this report.