NYC GOP Eyeing Ray Kelly, John Catsimatidis, Tom Allon For Mayoral Race In 2013

The city's top Republicans are scrambling to name a potential mayoral candidate for 2013's upcoming race and have pointed to billionaire supermarket honcho John Catsimatidis as their top contender.

But according to The New York Times, Catsimatidis is looking to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to take on the challenge saying, "I’ve been supporting Ray Kelly. I’m in the bullpen if Ray Kelly doesn’t do it."

Kelly has been repeatedly identified as the GOP's darling, with Republicans left and right expressing their support, even championing the police commissioner as a "national hero."

Yet even with all the flattery, Kelly has repeatedly said he has no plans to run, even passing the ball back to Catsimatidis.

When approached by Manhattan GOP Chairman David Isaacs at an event in April about possibly running, Kelly responded, "I'm a big fan of John Catsimatidis."

If both Catsimatidis and Kelly continue their reluctant dance, Isaacs has said their next bet is newspaper publisher Tom Allon, a choice Catsimatidis disapproves of.

Republicans have given prospective candidates until the fall to decide if they're in for the challenge "giving whoever the candidate is plenty of time to prepare a campaign against the eventual Democrat nominee, who is certain to be to the left of the average city voter."

The city's heavily Democratic demographic will present a major obstacle to whoever chooses to run. When recently polled, likely mayoral candidate City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was found to be the city's favorite with 32 percent of voters favoring Quinn.