a top political adviser to former new york city mayor michael bloomberg has told allies he is considering running against mayor bill de blasio next year, according to people familiar with the matter. but those close to the adviser, kevin sheekey, said they don<u+2019>t know whether he is serious. mr. sheekey, now an executive at bloomberg lp, a financial news and information service founded by the former mayor, hasn<u+2019>t begun fundraising or building a campaign apparatus but has spoken with a number of people about the possibility, these people said. mr. de blasio, a democrat, is running for re-election in 2017. messrs. sheekey and bloomberg didn<u+2019>t respond to requests for comment. a spokesman for mr. de blasio said the mayor <u+201c>is happy to match his record against anyone.<u+201d> mr. sheekey, who has never held elected office, worked for the late u.s. sen. daniel patrick moynihan, a new york democrat, and served in mr. bloomberg<u+2019>s administration for two terms. in 2010, he returned to bloomberg lp, where he worked before mr. bloomberg ran for mayor. mr. sheekey, 50 years old, is known for his political savvy and has a reputation for floating trial balloons about the mayor to the news media. when one longtime aide to mr. bloomberg saw a 2015 new york post article suggesting mr. bloomberg could run for mayor of london , the person joked: <u+201c>looks like kevin is bored.<u+201d> mr. sheekey was involved in unsuccessful efforts to convince mr. bloomberg to run for president. over the summer, he traveled with mr. bloomberg, who won three terms as mayor on the gop ticket but is now unaffiliated with any party, to philadelphia for the democratic national convention. in recent weeks, mr. sheekey has posted <u+201c>kevin sheekey for mayor<u+201d> buttons on social media, including twitter. the buttons are a spoof made for a birthday party for mr. sheekey, people familiar with the matter said. bradley tusk, another bloomberg adviser who ran mr. bloomberg<u+2019>s 2009 re-election campaign, launched a campaign earlier this year to unseat mr. de blasio. so far, mr. tusk has been looking for a candidate to run against the mayor with little luck. <u+201c>kevin knows what competent, honest government looks like,<u+201d> said mr. tusk, a friend of mr. sheekey. <u+201c>compare his experience with bloomberg and moynihan to de blasio<u+2019>s bumbling tenure of corruption, ineptness and laziness, and the contrast is very strong.<u+201d> mr. sheekey, who lives on manhattan<u+2019>s upper west side and is listed in board of elections records as a democrat, may have a difficult time unseating mr. de blasio. whether voters would want a mayor so closely linked to mr. bloomberg is unclear. bill lipton, who runs the union-backed working families party, said democrats would likely want to unite against a donald trump presidency instead of having an intraparty squabble. he said he wasn<u+2019>t sure if anyone would run against mr. de blasio. still, mr. lipton said, <u+201c>anything can happen in politics.<u+201d> write to josh dawsey at joshua.dawsey@dowjones.com
bloomberg adviser kevin sheekey considers a new york city mayoral bid - wsj
josh dawsey