Candidate: Anthony Weiner Should Run For Mayor
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- One mayoral candidate said Saturday that disgraced former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner should be running for the office too.
But Weiner is instead spending what were once his campaign funds on polling and campaign research.
Speaking to 1010 WINS, City Comptroller John Liu questioned that use of funds, and said Weiner should run for mayor instead.
"That's a lot of money to spend on polls. I think Anthony should be there. I think he should run. Just stop texting," he said.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio did not mention Weiner directly, but emphasized that the mayoral race was already crowded.
"I think we've got one of the most crowded mayoral races we've ever had, but everyone makes their own choice," he said. "All I can say is as I go around the city, I feel very good about the responses I'm getting. I think people are ready for a real change in this city."
And City Council Speaker Christine Quinn did not take a position on Weiner's future one way or the other.
"I think Anthony's future is up to Anthony, but I wish him nothing but the best, he and his family," she said.
Weiner's latest spending report disclosed more than $100,000 this month on research and polling with money from his political committee, according to a New York Daily News report issued Friday.
Two payments of $106,500 were made on March 4 and 5 to David Binder Research of San Francisco.
The Queens Democrat has millions in campaign funds he raised before a sexting scandal forced him to resign from office nearly two years ago.
Weiner ran for mayor in 2005 but did not in 2009. Before the scandal he was considered a potential favorite to win this year's mayoral race.
When reached by the newspaper he said there was ``nothing to report beyond what I reported.''
Weiner resigned in June of 2011 after admitting that he sent lewd pictures of himself to several women via Twitter. Weiner initially denied sending the pictures, saying his account had been hacked and called it a prank.
He then modified his story, calling it a prank. In short order, though, the true scope of the situation became clear.
"Weinergate," as it came to be known, even prompted a company to build an anatomically correct Anthony Weiner doll.
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