These debates could get awkward.
Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced former New York governor running for New York City comptroller, is going to have a hard time getting past the prostitution scandal that brought him down five years ago.
In a twist of irony, Kristin Davis, the “Manhattan Madam” who admits she supplied Spitzer with escorts, is running as the libertarian candidate for the office Spitzer announced Sunday night he’s running for.
“Kristin Davis vs Eliot Spitzer for NYC comptroller!” Roger Stone, her political consultant, tweeted Sunday night in celebration of Spitzer’s announcement.
With Stone’s help, Davis — convicted in 2008 of promoting prostitution sent to prison for four months — has enjoyed publicly taunting Spitzer. She ran for governor of New York in 2010, for example, and previously threatened to run against Spitzer in 2009 if he ran for state comptroller.
Davis announced this spring that she’d run for the city’s comptroller position. According to her website, she is running on a platform of “legalization, regulation and taxation” of marijuana in the city. “We sell regulate and tax tobacco and alcohol, both more damaging to public health than pot.”
As for Spitzer, he doesn’t hide the fact that he’s hoping for redemption by attempting to re-enter public life.
“I’m hopeful there will be forgiveness,” the Democrat told The New York Times. “I am asking for it.”
*This post has been updated to correct what issues issues she’s pushing in the race