New York Times reports:

Under assault from allies of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former congressman Harold E. Ford Jr. fired back on Friday afternoon, saying he would be not be “bullied or intimidated” by “party bosses” as he considers challenging her in this fall’s Democratic primary. . . .
Anxiety about a Bloomberg-Ford alliance prompted Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, to call the mayor on Thursday and ask if either he or his top political aides had helped to promote Mr. Ford’s candidacy, according to a Democratic official and an aide to Mr. Bloomberg.