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Spitzer’s “Sorry” Spiel: His Bid for City Comptroller

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Post scandal: former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and wife Silda Wall Spitzer attend the New York Yankees game against the Texas Rangers on August 25, 2009 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.

It’s been five years since New York governor Eliot Spitzer, 54, resigned in disgrace amidst a high-profile prostitution scandal. Now he’s planning a run for the city’s comptroller office, he announced during an evening phone interview with the New York Times on Sunday, July 7.

“I love public service,” Spitzer, a democrat, told the Daily News. “I believe in it, and hope I will be given a second chance. After being out of office for five years, thinking deeply, reflecting on what I was able to do when I was in government … I’m going to try and seek the controller’s office and ask the public to consider me.”

Since his absence from the political arena, Spitzer hasn’t exactly been keeping a low public profile: he’s hosted “Viewpoint” on Current TV, made appearances as a political commentator on NY1 and even taught courses at the City College of New York. Still, he admits, the political bug has been pulling him back in for quite a while.

“I sinned, I owned up to it, I looked them [voters] in the eye, I resigned, I held myself accountable,” Spitzer said on CBS’ This Morning program. It’s been long enough that, “I hope they look back at what I did as attorney general, as governor, as a prosecutor and say, ‘hey, this guy was ahead of the curve on Wall Street issues.’ “

 

Indeed, as a high profile Attorney General, Spitzer had a reputation for cracking down on white-collar crime in an aggressive force that made main street New Yorkers take notice. In what Time Magazine calls an “aggressive crusade,” the self-proclaimed “Sheriff of Wall Street” targeted some of city’s biggest financial personalities, including former New york Stock Exchange CEO Richard Grasso, whom Spitzer sued in 2004 over his $140 million pay package. In another memorable episode as Attorney General, Spitzer went off on John Whitehead, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs and Manhattan power broker who published a letter in the Wall Street Journal defending AIG’s Maurice “Hank” Greenberg. “Mr. Whitehead,” he wrote, “it’s now a war between us and you’ve fired the first shot, I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you’ve done.”

And so it would make sense that Spitzer may see the low-profile comptroller’s office as a way to get back to doing what he did best: financial oversight and regulation. Sure, it’s a step down from his days in the political limelight, but it may be precisely what he needs to quietly get back in the game.

During a CBS interview, when asked if running for New York City comptroller was a step down from governor, Spitzer said, “Service is service.”

“I think anybody who’s been through what I’ve been through, sure, you want redemption,” he said. “If that’s what I wanted I don’t think this is the path to do it. But what I am seeking is service … the most satisfying thing for me ever is public service.”

Once upon a time, Eliot Spitzer was considered a candidate in becoming the first Jewish president. He was inaugurated Governor of New York in 2007, and during his brief stint in office, proposed a bill to legalize same sex marriage and issued an executive order allowing illegal immigrants to be issued driver’s licenses; both attracted great praise and controversy.

Then, less than 15 months into a promising governorship came a staggering halt: it was reported that Spitzer was a client of Emperors Club VIP, a high-profile madame Kristin Davis (more on her later). Spitzer was identified as “Client No. 9” by call girl Ashley Dupre, who said he was known for keeping his black socks on during sexual encounters.

Though never charged as a result of the scandal, it prompted him to step down- became the first New York governor since the 1970s to do so. In a post-resignation news conference with his wife, Silda, at his side, Spitzer fessed up to hiring prostitutes during his time in office.

The Post last month reported that the two have been living apart, but Spitzer has already stepped out against the report insisting they are still together.

“My wife plays a role in everything I do,” he said.

And in an ironic twist: Spitzer is set to be running against the former madam accused of supplying him with a bevy of call girl.s The aforementioned Kristin Davis ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2010, and noted on her Twitter page that she will be running for city comptroller this time around.

“Happy birthday to me! What a great present, a chance to confront Eliot Spitzer,” Davis Tweeted Sunday night, following Spitzer’s announcement of candidacy.

“This is going to be the funnest campaign ever,” she told the Daily News. “I’ve been waiting for my day to face him for five years. I sat … in Rikers Island, I came out penniless and nothing happened to him. The hypocrisy there is huge.”

For his part, Spitzer says he expects he will be asked about the prostitution scandal that brought on his resignation.

“I have no doubt there will be questions about that,” he said. “I have no hesitance about addressing those questions. They are fair questions. Life has peaks and valleys. The peaks are more fun, but the valleys are more educational. I hope I have learned. I hope I have changed. I seek this office with humility.”

To follow Spitzer’s bid for governor, check his twitter account, @SpitzerforNYC, which he set up to promote his candidacy. As of Monday morning he already had over an impressive 16,000 followers.

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