Now that Anthony Weiner has resigned from the House of Representatives, the complexion of NYC’s next mayoral race has changed. Weiner was the presumed frontrunner for the office, so his expected departure leaves a significant void.
At this point in time these are the main contenders: Bill Thompson, Bill DiBlasio, Christine Quinn, John Liu, Scott Stringer, Adolfo Carrion and Marty Markowitz. Of course there are one or two others who claim to be considering the run, but so far these seven appear to be the key contenders.
Of these six, there are two candidates that I will not support under any condition: Christine Quinn and Marty Markowitz. I cannot support them based on their active involvement in the NY city council’s overturning of term-limits in 2008. Christine Quinn shat on the ideals of democracy when she allowed herself to be used by Mayor Michael Bloomberg -who selfishly wanted another term in Gracie Mansion. Plus, she has essentially functioned as a deputy-mayor (and not as an independent council speaker) since 2006. In my estimation, she blew her chance of being mayor when she let the term-limits bill come to the city council floor for a vote.
Marty Markowitz is an elected official who unashamedly and openly supported the term-limits overhaul in a rather vocal way. Plus -as Brooklyn beep- he seems too close to greedy and unscrupulous developers. I know both Quinn and Markowitz have much better chances of winning than most pundits are willing to admit; but they are essentially flawed candidates in my view.
The other four candidates can be advised to start revving up their campaign-engines now, since both Quinn and Markowitz have been recently taking baby steps in order to jump the field. Weiner’s departure moves Bill Thompson up as the new favorite. I will do another column on this race real soon, since I want to get a little deeper here.
These are my latest odds on the race; you can compare it to my earlier odds-posting (see archives):
Anthony Weiner: VERY DOUBTFUL – A LIKELY SCRATCH
Bill Thompson: 5-2
Christine Quinn: 3-1
Marty Markowitz: 9-2
John Liu: 5-1
Bill DiBlasio: 6-1
Adolfo Carrion: 10-1
Scott Stringer 20-1
ALL OTHERS: 100-3 (or higher)
STAY TUNED-IN FOLKS.