Brooklyn City Council Member Bill de Blasio, who was a leader in the fight to defeat the extension of term limits and had his sights set on succeeding Marty Markowitz as Brooklyn Borough President, has had a change of plans and will run for Pubic Advocate. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is not running for re-election in 2009 (even though she, too, could keep her seat) and Mr. de Blasio apparently does not relish run against Mr. Markowitz. So, the Daily News blog The Daily Politics reported yesterday that Mr. de Blasio has been making calls indicating he’s running for Public Advocate. The problem is that, apparently, so is hyper-ambitious Queens Council Member John Liu. There’s even speculation that Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer will join the crowd. de Blasio could, of course, run for another terms on the Council but one has a hard time seeing what political advantage he would again from doing so. This is only the beginning of the fallout from the vote that helped potentially cement some public officials like Mayor Bloomberg and Borough President Markowitz in place for, at least, another four years. Handled properly, the Advocate’s job is an ideal platform from which to run for Mayor (assuming, well, you know, the incumbent chooses to leave office.)

As if that’s not enough, Mr. de Blasio, Tish James and others are announcing their lawsuits over the term limits power grab. Per a press release we received from Mr. de Blasio’s officice:

Councilmembers Bill de Blasio and Letitia James, joined by Comptroller Bill Thompson, attorney Randy Mastro, and other elected officials, will hold a press conference on last week’s term limits vote. Last Thursday, the Council voted 29-22 to extend term limits to three consecutive terms for City elected officials. State law, local law, and voting rights guaranteed under the US Constitution, however, require that a mandatory referendum be held on this issue. Councilmembers de Blasio and James have authorized their lawyers to prepare a lawsuit to challenge the legality of changing voter-ratified term limits by legislation. The two Councilmembers have also authorized their lawyers to review the legal infirmities and adverse impacts on minority participation that will result from this major change by legislation to the local electoral system, and to continue to pursue claims that the vote blatantly violated local conflict of interest laws.

The press event is at Noon today on the steps of the Kremlin City Hall.