Former Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat who helped pave the way to election wins for Republicans Rudy Giuliani in 1993 and Rep. Bob Turner in 2010, won’t be crossing party lines to back MTA chief Joe Lhota’s likely mayoral bid.
“I don’t believe that the city will elect a Republican at this time, which is what Joe Lhota is, because his philosophy is that of Rudy Giuliani, who antagonized a lot of people when he was mayor because of his pugnaciousness,” Koch told The Post.
Lhota was a deputy mayor under Giuliani, who had a falling-out with Koch during Giuliani’s first term at City Hall.
“The philosophy of Giuliani that permeated his administration was ‘My way or the highway,’ and I think that anyone endorsed by Giuliani or who worked for his administration would conclude that that is the philosophy of the Giuliani wannabes,” Koch continued.
Koch, who describes himself as a centrist Democrat, has already endorsed City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, an all-but-announced candidate next year.
Her likely primary rivals include Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, former city Comptroller Bill Thompson and current Comptroller John Liu.
Lhota, who stepped down this week as chairman of the MTA, said he will decide in early January whether to enter the race to replace Mayor Bloomberg.
Giuliani supports his run and his former aides are likely to work on Lhota’s campaign, sources said.