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Report: Bloomberg Urged Hillary Clinton To Run For Mayor

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Many have wondered whether retiring U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton might consider another stab at the presidency in 2016, but a published report Monday said Mayor Michael Bloomberg was hoping she might run for another office even sooner.

Citing "a phone call confirmed by three people," the New York Times reported Bloomberg encouraged Clinton to enter the 2013 mayoral race. The article revealed few other details about the call, calling it "shrouded in mystery."

People briefed on the call told the New York Times that Clinton responded in no uncertain terms that she is not interested in the mayor's office, and will not be running.

Still, the article provided extensive analysis of the significance of the call, particularly given that Bloomberg has privately leaned toward supporting City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

The article pointed out that Clinton does not live in New York City, although she was able to escape that residency requirement in her successful 2000 run for the U.S. Senate by buying a home in Chappaqua.

In a Quinnipiac poll last month, Quinn was found with a huge lead among those who are seen as candidates in the race, ranking well ahead of former City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, and current City Comptroller John C. Liu.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joseph Lhota has also been named as a possible Republican candidate for mayor, and has won the support of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani should he decide to run.

Quinn has not formally announced her candidacy for mayor, but would become the first woman Mayor of New York City if she won. So far, the largest city in the country to have elected a woman mayor is Chicago, where Jane Byrne served as mayor from 1979 until 1983.

The New York City mayoral election will be held next November.

What would you think about Hillary Clinton as a possible mayoral candidate, even though she says she's not interested? Leave your comments below...

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