Anthony Weiner Is Attempting Another Political Comeback. Yes, Really.

Those voting in New York City’s Democratic primary on Tuesday may stumble upon a surprising, but familiar, name: disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Weiner, a congressperson who resigned in 2011 after a sexting scandal, is attempting yet another political comeback after striking out in a New York City mayoral bid in 2013 following a second sexting scandal.

Weiner’s candidacy, which is for New York City Council, is among those this cycle that raise scrutiny on how male politicians have been able to garner second, third and fourth chances after allegations of wrongdoing or sexual misconduct. He’s one of multiple men on the ballot in this year’s New York City primary who’ve been the subject of such scandals: former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is also vying for mayor after facing allegations of sexual harassment from 13 women, which he denies.

Weiner had served a Brooklyn and Queens district in Congress for more than a decade, stepping down in 2011 after he admitted to sending a sexually explicit photo to a college student via Twitter and engaging in similarly inappropriate contact with five other women. He then attempted a comeback during a 2013 New York City mayoral run only for reports to emerge about him sexting at least one other woman after he left Congress. And in 2017, he pleaded guilty to sending a sexually explicit photo to a 15-year-old and was sentenced to 21 months in prison for transferring obscene material to a minor.

Weiner has told The Associated Press that addressing his past scandals is the “fundamental, unsolvable problem of the campaign,” and acknowledged the issue in his promotional materials. “Since I am asking you for your vote again, I want to address the elephant in the room … I accepted responsibility, I did my time (literally) and paid my debt to society in full,” Weiner said in one campaign flyer. “I was dealing with what I now understand to be addiction,” Weiner said in an appearance on “The View.”

Weiner referred HuffPost to “literally dozens of articles and podcasts where I discuss this” when asked for comment about concerns related to these scandals.

Weiner has framed himself as a centrist option in his campaign, calling for a larger police presence in the neighborhood and for New York City to serve as a laboratory for single-payer health care.

“Families in Lower Manhattan deserve better than failed Albany & DC politicians using our moment of need for their own political comeback,” Gordillo, one of Weiner’s opponents, posted last year on X, formerly Twitter.