Weiner's Campaign Manager Quits Amid Latest Scandal

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- After a week of controversy, Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign has taken another hit.

Weiner's campaign manager -- Danny Kedem, 31 – has decided to call it quits, CBS 2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer confirmed Sunday morning. No replacement has been named.

As 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported, Kedem just two months ago said he was excited and proud to lead the Weiner campaign as manager. But in the wake of the latest revelations of sexting activity involving Weiner, Kedem has now decided to leave the campaign.

On Saturday, Weiner spent the day huddled inside his Park Avenue South apartment, shooting a commercial or some type of Internet spot. Television equipment was seen coming and going from the apartment.

At the Dominican Day Parade in the Bronx on Sunday, Weiner's opponents weighed in on the latest development.

"It's over, I think he should just resign, go away, take care of his family and just move on," John Catsimatidis said.

Christine Quinn called Weiner's behavior reckless.

"I think clearly we've seen a pattern of reckless behavior and an inability to tell the truth," she said.

John Liu was somewhat more reserved and said that Weiner should do whatever is best for himself.

"Obviously there are a lot of issues Anthony has to deal with, with regards to his campaign and his life and he should make the best decision for himself," Liu told CBS 2's Steve Langford.

During a campaign stop in Brooklyn on Sunday Weiner said that the campaign wasn't about staffing or hiring.

"You know we have an amazing staff, but this isn't about the people working on the campaign," he said, "We haven't made announcements about people we're hiring, we're not making announcements about people that leave."

While Weiner had been leading among the Democratic candidates for mayor in many recent polls, his numbers have floundered following the latest revelations that he engaged in a sexting relationship with a young woman as much as a year after he resigned from Congress over similar allegations in 2011.

Last week, the gossip Web site "The Dirty" published several steamy exchanges and two censored photos, reportedly supplied by a woman who had been involved in an online relationship with Weiner as late as the summer of 2012.

When the allegations hit on Tuesday, Weiner responded apologetically at a news conference alongside his wife, Huma Abedin. But he said he would be moving forward with his mayoral campaign, despite calls from some of his opponents – as well as newspaper editorial writers – to withdraw.

The scandal grew seamier as the week went on. On Thursday, The Dirty posted two unredacted photos of a man's penis that it said Weiner sent to the woman last year.

When reporters on Thursday tried to pin down the evasive Weiner as to the number of women with whom he had exchanged illicit messages, he delivered a rambling response before settling on "six to 10, I suppose.'' His campaign later clarified that of that total, Weiner corresponded with three of them after leaving office.

Weiner said he was still "working with people'' to get help dealing with his penchant for X-rated online flirting, but he disputed that it's an addiction.

The woman who claims to have engaged in the online sex chats with Weiner, 23-year-old Sydney Leathers, confirmed her identity Thursday and told "Inside Edition'' that Weiner disgusted her.

"He's not who I thought he was,'' she told the show. "The exact wording was that he is an argumentative, perpetually horny middle-aged man. At the time, I was like, 'no you're not.' But yes he is."

She said Weiner told her that he loved her and she reciprocated. Asked what advice she would give the embattled mayoral candidate, she said, "Stop lying, stop embarrassing his wife and get help.''

"I felt like he was saying one thing to me and saying another thing to his wife, another thing on the campaign trail," she said.

Leathers said Weiner started corresponding with her last July, more than a year after he stepped down from Congress and within weeks of a glowing People magazine cover story about his repaired marriage to Abedin, an aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Before the revelations, Weiner was leading most polls gauging the primary race. But a new Marist poll Thursday showed he fell behind City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in the crowded Democratic field.

The poll also found 55 percent of registered Democrats now have an unfavorable impression of Weiner, while 30 percent see him favorably. The numbers were nearly the reverse of a June poll by the same entities, which tallied a 52-36 percent favorable-to-unfavorable split then.

Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com:

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)