Reports: Giuliani will not run in 2010

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) will not seek elected office in 2010, multiple media outlets reported on Monday evening.

Giuliani this year explored candidacies for both the state's gubernatorial and Senate races. Polling data showed Giuliani, who sought the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, leading his possible general-election opponent, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), by double digits.

The former mayor was considered to be the Republicans' best hope for unseating Gillibrand, who was appointed by New York Gov. David Paterson (D) to fill the seat of now-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Without Giuliani on the ballot, the GOP lacks a big-name opponent to run against the freshman senator.

Sources also tell several New York-area newspapers that Giuliani will endorse former Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.) in the state's gubernatorial race. Giuliani posed a primary challenge for Lazio during the 2000 Senate race but dropped out after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Giuliani garnered national acclaim for his handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Many also credit him for reducing crime and urban blight in New York City.

But Giuliani also has personal baggage that could have weighed down his campaign. He has been divorced twice, and his former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, pleaded guilty in November to tax fraud and lying to White House officials, charges stemming from an alleged bribery incident in the 1990s. Former President George W. Bush nominated Kerik to become Homeland Security chief, but Kerik withdrew himself from consideration after multiple ethics allegations arose.

Giuliani now works as a private security consultant and makes public speaking appearances.

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