Ex-NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer to Return to Politics, 'Hopeful There Will Be Forgiveness' after Prostitution Scandal

NEW YORK (TheBlaze/AP) -- Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer says he's coming back to politics.

Eliot Spitzer speaks during Dish Network War Of The Words press conference at Hammerstein Ballroom on September 13, 2012 in New York City. (Credit: Getty Images North America)

He tells The New York Times he'll run for the office of New York City comptroller.

“I’m hopeful there will be forgiveness, I am asking for it,” he said in a telephone interview on Sunday night.

Spitzer, a Democrat, stepped down from the governor's office in March 2008 after it was reported that he'd patronized a high-end prostitution ring called Emperors Club V.I.P., the Times notes, adding:

He said he had been heartened and encouraged by encounters with ordinary New Yorkers over the past few years who have urged him to return to public office.

Once such encounter occurred on Sunday afternoon, he said, after he finished a run near his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He described sitting on a park bench, and being approached by a woman, who began talking to him about her own experience aiding the homeless.

“I appreciate what you did when you were in office,” he said she told him. “Nobody is perfect; I hope you run again.”

Mr. Spitzer added: “It happens all the time. People who walk with me on the street say, ‘People really do want you to get back in.’"

He adds that he's planning to start collecting the signatures he needs on Monday.

Candidates for citywide offices like comptroller have to have 3,750 signatures from registered voters in their party by Thursday.

Spitzer tells the Times he hopes city voters would be willing to give him a chance.

He's not the only politician who's looking for a second chance. Former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner is running for mayor. The former congressman left office two years ago amid a scandal over his tweets.

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