ALBANY — Potential US Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. gave some of his strongest hints last night that he’ll challenge Kirsten Gillibrand for her seat.
Speaking at the annual dinner of the Black and Puerto Rican Legislators Association in Albany, the former Tennessee congressman said, “I’m not running for anything. At least, not yet.”
The dinner featured an unusual gathering of potential adversaries.
Gillibrand, too, attended, and at one point approached Ford’s seat. They exchanged a handshake and few words.
Sitting at the same table were Gov. Paterson and his potential rival, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The two joked together through dinner, before which they clasped hands during the opening prayer.
Many of those in attendance, most of whom have already endorsed Gillibrand, were unfriendly to Ford, at least at first.
An outburst of boos greeted him when he took the stage for his much-anticipated keynote address.
Ford recovered quickly with a personal tale about how his first campaign was so unpopular that he was forced to speak at kindergarten graduations.
He called on Democrats to prevent further Republican upsets like those in Virginia, Massachusetts and New Jersey by choosing candidates capable of winning — regardless of their current positions.
“Titles don’t make you entitled to anything,” Ford said.
“We, as people, and we, as voters, have every right to choose whom we want, when we want, and we have every right to expect them to deliver for us.”
Gillibrand seized on the event as an opportunity to showcase her support among black and Latino Democrats, and took a few swings Ford in the process.
“I’m a New Yorker,” she told reporters. “If he wants to move here from Tennessee and run for Senate, he can.”