The 60-year-old native New Yorker, now an investment banker in Manhattan, said he had been encouraged to run by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliana and Karl Rove, the White House political adviser who worked with Weld in the 1990s.

Weld’s advisers believe that Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, is beatable, according to the New York Times.

"My juices are really flowing for this race, and I want to return to public service,” said Weld, who resigned as Massachusetts governor in 1997.

Weld said he would seek to cut taxes in New York, improve public education, protect the environment and rein in Medicaid abuse.

But Michael Long, chairman of the state’s Conservative Party, believes Weld is too supportive of gay rights to win his party’s endorsement, saying: "I think his social views make things pretty difficult for him.”

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