ALBANY – Rep. Bob Turner is considering a challenge to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
In a confidential letter today obtained by The Post, Brooklyn Republican Chairman Craig Eaton asked his counterparts from across the state to draft Turner as the party’s candidate.
“The county chairmen are working him over pretty hard, and he has not ruled a Senate run out,” a GOP source said this afternoon of Turner. ”This is a very fast-moving situation.”
Officially Turner, the Republican TV executive who won disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Wiener’s old Queens-Brooklyn congressional seat in a special election upset last September, says he’s running for re-election – even though congressional reapportionment may wipe out his seat.
Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos, attorney Wendy Long and Rye Town Supervisor Joe Carvin all want the Republican nomination to challenge Gillibrand (D-NY).
But GOP leaders have been looking for a better-known candidate with a better chance to win.
Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki were given “right of first refusal” but aren’t interested, GOP officials say.
Turner “has received multiple phone calls from multiple county chairmen urging him to run for the Senate, and he is grateful for their confidence in him,” said spokesman Bill O’Reilly. “But he still wants to see what the final House lines look like before making any decisions.”
New York has to cut two of its 29 House districts this year and the Democratic-controlled state Assembly – as well as a court-appointed special master– have recommended essentially eliminating Turner’s district.
The Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate are hoping to strike a deal on congressional lines by Wednesday.
State Republicans are scheduled to designate a Gillibrand opponent on Friday at their state convention in Rochester – and potentially set up a party primary, which Eaton told his fellow chairs he wants to avoid.