Manhattan Republican chair Jennifer Saul is not expected to make a decision in the next few days about whether to allow Michael Bloomberg to run in their primary.
"We will do our screening process before the assembled district leaders and members of the executive committee," said the organization's executive director, Jason Weingartner. "A vote will take place afterwards."
Those screening meetings historically have taken place in the first week of May, which means that the potentially tie-breaking decision of Saul and the committee—she would be the third of the five city chairs to approve Bloomberg's participation in the G.O.P. primary for mayor—may not be made for weeks.
The chairman in Brooklyn voted earlier this week to back Bloomberg.
The Staten Island Republican chair indicated he’s likely to back Bloomberg.
The chairmen in Queens and the Bronx are publicly airing their criticisms of Bloomberg, suggesting that they’ll vote against letting him into the primary.
Which means it all could come down to Saul.
One source in the borough noted that since the retirement of State Senator Roy Goodman in 2001, there’s no Republican in local office who the party would naturally defer to.
So, this screening process could be interesting.
