Latest news with #SarahBatchu
Associated Press
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Anthony Weiner far behind in NYC council primary with race to be decided by ranked choice count
NEW YORK (AP) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner is trailing badly in the Democratic primary for a New York City Council seat as the race moves to a ranked choice vote count to decide the winner. Initial returns Tuesday showed Weiner running in a distant fourth place in the five-person race for a council district in Manhattan. Weiner had entered the race in the hopes of restarting his political career after it was derailed by sexting scandals. He was eventually sent to prison for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl. Among those running ahead of him is Harvey Epstein, a state lawmaker whose name inspired a 'Saturday Night Live' bit over its unfortunate closeness to convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. Also vying for the seat are Sarah Batchu, the leader of a local non-profit, and Andrea Gordillo, who chairs the local community board. Weiner had been a strong Democratic voice in Congress before his political star plummeted in 2011 after he sent a lewd picture of himself to a college student on Twitter. He resigned from Congress, tried a comeback by running for New York City mayor, then got caught up in another sexting scandal. In 2017, prosecutors said he had illicit online contact with a high school student. Weiner pleaded guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor. During the campaign, Weiner did not shy away from his past scandal, but told The Associated Press in an interview that he struggled with how best to address what he had done when talking to voters. The winner of the City Council race will be determined in a ranked choice tabulation that begins on July 1. The candidates with the least support will be eliminated in rounds and votes cast for them will be redistributed to the remaining candidates, based on voter preference.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Disgraced politician spotted soft-launching his comeback after underage sexting
A disgraced New York politician who was jailed for sexting a minor is trying to break back into politics and was caught canvassing residents in the streets of the Big Apple. Anthony Weiner, 60, a registered sex offender, is running for NYC City Council just six years after he was released from his 21-month stay behind bars for sexting a 15-year-old. The lanky Democrat was seen canvassing the streets with a handful of flyers with a woman holding a campaign sign. Social media photos show the sex offender talking to a mother with a small child, hugging an older woman, and taking photos with constituents in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood. However, his return to the political sphere has not been without backlash as people have not forgotten his conviction, especially his running mate Sarah Batchu. Batchu proposed a bill nicknamed the Weiner Act in February that would ban registered sex offenders from holding public office in the city, according to City & State New York. 'We have 4.5million people in New York City who are women and when we see men like this running for office, it really sends the message that our safety is expendable, our pursuit of justice is futile, and our pain is invisible,' Batchu said. However, her proposal would not affect Andrew Cuomo, the former governor who is running for mayor against incumbent Eric Adams, the outlet reported. Social media photos show the sex offender talking to a mother with a small child, hugging an older woman, and taking photos with constituents in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood Weiner registered his campaign in December and has wracked up $197,437 in contributions, public records showed. His ex-wife, Huma Abedin, has donated $175 toward his campaign on March 13, while her sister, Heba Abedin, donated $150 in December, the NYC Campaign Finance Board records showed. Weiner shares a preteen son named Jordan with Huma, who was taken to visit his father in prison, Jordan revealed to the Wall Street Journal in 2022. The father-of-one is also highly aware of his public image, he told The Atlantic. 'Everyone that I talk to about the race, they fundamentally know perfectly what approach I should take. Some people are like: "You should say: 'F**k it. Donald Trump got elected as a 34-time felon.'" Or lean into it, you know. Make a joke about it,' he told the outlet. 'And about an equal number of people say: "You got to spend the first four or five pieces of mail apologizing, explaining that you served your whatever it is, you've learned your lesson".' Despite his nonchalant demeanor, he has been upfront about acknowledging his crime and his sex addiction. 'I'm not a victim of some larger conspiracy,' he told The Atlantic. 'It's just a thing that I did that I've accepted responsibility for.' saw evidence of extremely lewd messages he sent the victim He also admitted to the outlet that he was 'a little' bit chasing redemption with this campaign. 'I mean, look, to some degree, this is what I'm really good at. It's as basic as that,' the former representative, who served in Congress from 1999 to 2011, told the outlet. Weiner pleaded guilty in 2017 to carrying on a months-long online sexual relationship with a 15-year-old. She claims the politician asked her to dress up in 'school-girl' outfits for him on a video messaging application, and pressed her to engage in 'rape fantasies,' exclusively revealed in 2016. The online relationship began in January 2015 while the girl was a high school sophomore and before Weiner's wife, a former Hillary Clinton aide, announced she was ending their marriage. Huma and Weiner officially began divorced in early 2025, but have been separated for nine years. Weiner had been aware the girl was underaged at the time of the relationship. In the online messages, Weiner had sent bare-chested photos of himself to the girl, repeatedly called her 'baby,' complimented her body, and told her that he woke up 'hard' after thinking about her, according to copies of the conversations. The revelation comes just weeks after Weiner's wife Huma Abedin announced that they had separated in the wake of another sexting controversy. In August, the New York Post reported on sexual chats between Weiner and a 40-year-old woman, during which the former congressman sent her provocative shirtless photos of him while his four-year-old son was curled up next to him in bed. Weiner has faced a number of sexting scandals since 2011, when he was forced to resign from Congress after his online sexual messages with a female college student were revealed. Another sexting scandal in 2013, involving 22-year-old Sydney Leathers, derailed his bid for New York City mayor. In the course of that scandal, his alias Carlos Danger was disclosed. The former congressman has faced scrutiny over online chats with minors in the past. In 2011, he admitted to sending five private Twitter messages to a 17-year-old girl, but said the messages 'were neither explicit nor indecent.' The girl's family told the New York Times that the conversation appeared to be harmless. After serving his prison sentence, Weiner worked as a CEO of a countertop company in Brooklyn Naval Yard and attempted to run for NYC Mayor. Weiner's political fate will be decided on June 24 when the NYC primary election takes place.
