Anthony Weiner, the former US congressman who gained notoriety after tweeting sexual shots of himself, hit the campaign trail Thursday, one day after announcing his bid to run for New York mayor.
The Democrat went to Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood to meet with voters at a subway stop following the release Wednesday of a two-minute video in which he asked voters for a second chance.
“I am a problem solver for people,” Weiner, who was forced to resign in 2011 due to the scandal, said at his first news conference.
New Yorkers appear cool towards Weiner’s bid, with 49 percent saying he should not run according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday and conducted before he went public.
Weiner’s candidacy has shaken up the race among Democrats seeking to secure the Big Apple’s mayoral seat.
Until now, Christine Quinn, the speaker of the city council, seemed best-placed to succeed Michael Bloomberg in January 2014 who has steered the city for eleven years.
According to the Quinnipiac poll, Quinn — at 25 percent — leads the pack for the Democratic nomination. Weiner holds 15 percent, ahead of former comptroller William Thompson and the city’s public advocate Bill de Blasio, both of whom are at 10 percent.
Whoever becomes the Democratic candidate is expected to easily prevail against the best-placed Republican, according to the survey conducted May 14-20 among 1,082 voters with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Primary elections are set for September 10 and the mayoral vote is slated for November 5.
Weiner’s candidacy almost ensures that no Democratic contender will clear the 40 percent vote threshold needed to lock up the nomination, however. If that is the case, the top two finishers will face off in a September 24 runoff ahead of the November general vote.
Weiner’s hard-charging political career — he served 12 years in the US House of Representatives — imploded in 2011 with the X-rated Twitter scandal.
The Democrat initially claimed his account had been hacked and that he had not sent the pictures but later admitted to it.
Weiner hits campaign trail in bid to become NY mayor
