Christine Quinn officially announces mayoral campaign in New York City

An openly gay redheaded Irish American woman has announced she is running for mayor of New York and she is very likely to win.

Christine Quinn is the overwhelming favorite but she is bucking several trends.

Firstly, she is gay, secondly, she is a woman, and no openly declared gay person or a woman has ever held the job. Thirdly she is Irish American and very proud of that and no Irish American mayor has been elected in decades.

The  feeling was that the ethnic identity of New York had so changed that no Irish person would have a shot again.

Quinn appears to be bucking that trend, as she is the one possibility of electing an openly gay person or a woman.

All of which makes her a remarkable package wrapped in one candidate.

"I'm about keeping New York City a place for the middle class to live and grow and a place that is going to help those hard working people get into the middle class," she said. "I'm not about talking and finger-pointing and complaining; I'm about getting things done.”

By her very candidacy she has already moved the goalpost and she looks ever more likely to be elected given the very weak field of candidates that oppose her.

“Would he/she be good for the Jews?” is the often laughed at comment that many Jewish voters make when considering their voting choices no matter how obscure the office.

Asking that in the Irish context, the answer seems to be an overwhelming yes. Quinn is part and parcel of the Irish American community and much liked and respected there.

Her dad, Lawrence, is a permanent fixture at many Irish events and Quinn has underwritten huge support for the new Irish Arts Center in her capacity as City Council President.

So Quinn would be good for the Irish and the rest of New York it appears right now.

But she must know, like the cardinals in Rome know, that someone entering the race as hot favorite often does not end up pope or Mayor of new York City.

It is a long way to November but all other candidates seem stuck in the blocks. Unless they can get going, this might look like a coronation.