New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly trails the three top Democrats expected to run for mayor in hypothetical match-ups testing the political strength of the city's top cop, says the Wall Street Journal. A new poll assesses what might happen if the commissioner, who is not registered in any party, entered the 2013 mayoral race as a Republican. The result is a double-digit deficit against City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former City Comptroller Bill Thompson or Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, says the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Kelly has insisted he has no plans to run for elected office. That hasn't stopped the city's Republican Party from trying to recruit him as their nominee to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg next year. In a hypothetical contest against Quinn, the current front-runner among expected Democratic contenders, Kelly trails by 15 percentage points, 48 percent to 33 percent. Former City Comptroller Bill Thompson and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio both top Kelly in the poll by 12-point margins, 46 percent to 34 percent. Half of those surveyed said Kelly would make a good mayor.