Gov pushes NY mayor Bloomberg to run again

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has handled the economic downturn better than any other regional politician and it would be a "great idea" if he sought a third term, Gov. David Paterson said on Friday.

Bloomberg, an independent, ends his second and final term in January 2010, unless the city enacts a law axing the two-term limit or voters do so in a November referendum.

The Democratic governor, at a news conference, praised Bloomberg for chopping spending and salting away billions of dollars to protect the city's finances. In contrast, the state has only trimmed the budget's growth, he noted.

"That's the way to put a municipality in a position to withstand the unfortunate downturn of the economy and the losses of revenue from Wall Street," Paterson said.

Banks and brokerages are by far the most important taxpayers for both the city and the state.

"There's also a time when he (Bloomberg) wanted to run for president and I didn't think that was a bad idea either," Paterson said.

Paterson became governor in mid-March after Eliot Spitzer, who was elected in 2006, resigned amid a sex scandal. Paterson was elected as Spitzer's running mate, and had served him as lieutenant governor. The 2010 election is the first time Paterson would stand for governor -- an office the popular Bloomberg also might seek.

Breaking with the custom of only endorsing politicians who belong to the same party, Paterson added: "We'd love to have him around but that's a decision he has to make."

The billionaire mayor who has funded his own campaigns, on his Friday radio show, said he had "always" favored term limits and still did so. He noted opinions differed about how many terms should be allowed, from one to three. "You can pick the number," he said.

On Thursday, the mayor had said that any public official would be "derelict" in his duty if he ruled anything out.

The city is a heavily Democratic town, and three Democrats have raised millions of dollars to run for mayor: Speaker Christine Quinn and Comptroller William Thompson, both serving their second and last terms, and Congressman Anthony Wiener.

(Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Tom Hals)