Mayor Bloomberg will run for reelection as a Republican this fall, after successfully courting the party to let him back on its ballot line two years after he left it.

“Mayor Bloomberg and I have had healthy disagreements over issues at times, but I know he is the right person to lead this city forward,” said Jay Savino, chairman of the Bronx GOP, who followed his Brooklyn and Staten Island counterparts to become the third county chairman to back the mayor.

Bloomberg twice ran for mayor as a Republican, but quit the party in 2007 when he was contemplating an independent run for President. He is still a registered Independent, and thus needed permission from a majority of the five party chairmen to run on their line.

The mayor now gets access to the Republicans’ prominent ballot line, a week after the Independence Party agreed to endorse him on their ballot line as well.

Bloomberg’s campaign team is continuing to pursue endorsements from the Queens and Manhattan Republicans as well.

“We look forward to having a dialogue and engaging with all the Republican party chairs of New York City,” said Matt Mahoney, a Republican operative on Bloomberg’s campaign team. “We’re very excited to have the Bronx on board, and we look forward to getting the support of the other two chairs.”

As recently as February, the Republican chairs said they would stand united to deny Bloomberg the right to run as a Republican, saying he had used their party to get on the ballot but never pursued a true GOP agenda.

The mayor’s campaign staff worked steadily to overcome that resistance, telling the GOP chairs that Bloomberg would stay independent but would pay close attention to their party’s priorities.

Bloomberg has traditionally made large donations to parties that support him, though sources say financial contributions never came up in the talks that resulted in him reclaiming the Republican line.

(Source: NY Daily News)