“Any special prosecutor of Judith Kaye’s experience and ability will want to re-interview key witnesses before they make any final determination,” said Paul Shechtman, a former chair of the State Ethics Commission and chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney’s office. “I have a sense of how tirelessly Attorney General Cuomo’s lawyers and investigators have worked on this matter, and it’s regrettable that that work has to be redone.”

DioGuardi will have a formal campaign kick-off at Grand Central Terminal on Tuesday.

Two key Conservative chairmen, both from Rick Lazio’s backyard, are pushing party leaders to drop their support for Lazio and hand the gubernatorial nomination to his budding rival.

“Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil’s spawn,” Massa said. “He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive.”

“In today’s life, I’m glad I was not elected. Because I was not elected, I was doing good work,” Johnson said Thursday.

Several lawmakers said they would be surprised if Ravitch was not already mulling potential candidates, and that it would call into question his leadership if he was not prepared to name a lieutenant governor almost immediately upon taking office.

Rangel is not going anywhere for now. But if he does depart, the timing of his departure may have a lot to do with who gets the seat—and even who runs.