Browse > Home / Michael Bloomberg / Bloomberg Meets with Ballot Access Expert

Bloomberg Meets with Ballot Access Expert

January 18, 2008

Word leaked out quickly during Mayor Bloomberg’s trip to Texas today that he had lunch with Clay Mulford, a ballot access expert and Ross Perot’s campaign manager in 1992 and 1996.

So Bloomberg-watchers, read into that what you will: Another sign that he’s running for President or another well-placed tip that keeps the buzz alive.

Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, the architect of the Bloomberg for President (maybe) campaign, was Texas-ready for the trip. Sheekey was decked out in beat-up brown cowboy boots, a yellow Lance Armstrong “livestrong” band and blue jeans, the DN’s Kate Lucadamo reports from Austin.

But Bloomberg might be better off standing out, not fitting in. If he wants to run for president, he has some work to do in Texas to get people to recognize him.

The mayor was in Austin today to call for a national strategy to combat cancer, a demand he made with racing sensation Lance Armstrong and former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona. First he toured the Shivers Cancer Center at Brackenridge Hospital, where uninsured low-income Texans can get free treatment. The hospital relies on grants and donations, including those from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, to pay the bills.

Bloomberg shook hands with Sharon Avila, a 53-year-old fighting ovarian cancer. Asked later if she knew who Bloomberg was before today, she said, “No. Is he the new mayor?” Like many at the event, Avila wondered “what does he have to do with Shivers?” The visit may have more to do with his possible presidential plans. Third-party presidential hopefuls in Texas have only a short window – from March 5 to May 12 – to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot.

As Bloomberg has insisted many times before, he’s not running. “I just said I’m not a candidate … which of those words didn’t you understand?” he barked to a local reporter today. Bloomberg, a frequent traveler, said it was his first time in Austin, though he’s made many trips to Houston and Dallas.

The mayor also got a look at a surgical “cyberknife,” which uses laser beams to target disease. There are only 150 in the world, said Brackenridge Dr. Ronald Wilson. Asked if there are any in New York, he replied, “I’m pretty sure there are.”

Source NY Daily News

Related Articles

Written by NY Politics · Filed Under Michael Bloomberg 

Comment on this article