While Rochester’s mayor was in Albany, Rochester’s City Council president suggested she may run for his job—potentially pitting two of the city’s top Democrats against one another.

^[1]Mayor Thomas Richards said after the budget hearing in Rochester that his decision on whether to seek re-election would not be impacted by what others decide to do. The four-year seat, which Richards won in a special election in 2011, is up for election in November, and Richards hasn’t indicated his plans.

“I’m working on it. That’s something that I’ve told people I’m thinking about and I have to make a decision about pretty soon. I recognize that, and I will,” Richards told Gannett’s Albany Bureau.

City Council Lovely Warren indicated today she may run for the seat. ^[2]

Richards said he hasn’t had an opportunity to discuss Warner’s potential plans with her. He said it wouldn’t impact his decision.

“That’s the not the basis on which I would make a decision,” he said. “I would make the decision on the basis of my own personal circumstances on what I think I could contribute.”