Giuliani Tells Donors Lhota Would Keep City From Slipping Backward

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, has signed his name to a fund-raising letter for Joseph J. Lhota, the Republican candidate for mayor, highlighting how closely the campaign will work with a figure who has, at times, polarized the city’s political world.

In the letter sent by e-mail to likely supporters of Mr. Lhota on Saturday, Mr. Giuliani, who is a Republican, warned that in the hands of a Democratic mayor, the city could regress to the grim state of its not-so-distant past. “Make no mistake,” he wrote in the message. “If you don’t think the city can slip back to its unmanageable, ungovernable ways, just listen to Joe’s democratic opponents. We must elect Joe as New York’s next mayor.”

Mr. Giuliani added that Mr. Lhota, who served as the deputy mayor for operations in his second term, would “stand up to the destructive policies of tax-and-spend politicians who put New York and America in peril.”

Mr. Giuliani encouaged recipients of the e-mail to consider a donation of between $25 and $250, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times. A spokeswoman for Mr. Lhota confirmed the e-mail but declined to comment.

Since he entered the race for mayor, perhaps the biggest question looming over Mr. Lhota’s candidacy was the degree to which he would align himself with Mr. Giuliani, a candidate for president in 2008 who can draw on an extensive list of supporters and potential donors. During a forum for Republican mayoral candidates last week, Mr. Lhota rebuked a moderator who called Mr. Giuliani a “jerk” and said that the city’s transformation from a troubled municipality began with his former boss.

Proximity to Mr. Giuliani may be a mixed blessing: on one hand, he represents dramatic improvements to the city’s quality of life, including a sharp reduction in crime, changes for which Mr. Lhota would no doubt like to share credit; but Mr. Giuliani is also strongly associated with seeking to squ! ash dissent and pursuing a sometimes vindictive approach to his opponents, qualities from which Mr. Lhota may wish to distance himself.

In an interview a few months ago, Mr. Lhota said he was proud of his work with Mr. Giuliani. “I cannot be separated from Rudy Giuliani,” he said. “But I am also not Rudy Giuliani.”

In his message, Mr. Giuliani said he had seen Mr. Lhota’s skill up close, as a deputy mayor, and concluded, “I can’t emphasize enough what a great mayor Joe will be.”