--- description: Eliot Spitzer, the hard-charging former New York Governor and onetime "Sheriff of Wall Street," who resigned five years ago in a spectacular fall from grace... title: After Sex Scandal, Eliot Spitzer Makes a Comeback image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde96dbc7546e5a89/698a8a9309208f0cb6422550/2013-07-08t025722z_1897213440_gm1e64t0.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) # After Sex Scandal, Eliot Spitzer Makes a Comeback by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Jul 8, 2013 11:43 AM CUT  Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer speaks at the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit 2010 in New York in this April 28, 2010 file photo. Eliot Spitzer is re-entering politics to run for New York City comptroller, five years after resigning as New York governor in a prostitution scandal, the New York Times reported on July 7, 2013\. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS HEADSHOT) Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer speaks at the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit 2010 in New York in this April 28, 2010 file photo. Eliot Spitzer is re-entering politics to run for New York City comptroller, five years after resigning as New York governor in a prostitution scandal, the New York Times reported on July 7, 2013\. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS HEADSHOT)REUTERS by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Jul 8, 2013 11:43 AM CUT Eliot Spitzer, the hard-charging former [New York](http://topics.time.com/new-york/ "undefined") Governor and onetime “Sheriff of [Wall Street](http://topics.time.com/wall-street/ "undefined"),” who [resigned five years ago](http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1721882,00.html "undefined") in a spectacular fall from grace following a prostitution scandal, is returning to New York politics. Spitzer, a Democrat who called himself a “steamroller” for his aggressive brand of political combat, said Sunday that he’s running for [New York City](http://topics.time.com/new-york-city/ "undefined") comptroller, an important but under-appreciated city office that presides over the [management](http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/bam/assets.shtm "undefined") of $140 billion in city pension funds. In this role, Spitzer, 54, could exert considerable influence over New York City’s financial health. Spitzer’s pursuit of the comptroller’s office may seem like a step-down for a man who was [once](http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/18/opinion-heres-why-eliot-spitzer-would-make-a-good-president/ "undefined") mentioned as a potential U.S. presidential candidate, but it’s also a shrewdly restrained goal for a famously ambitious politician seeking public forgiveness. Before resigning in disgrace in 2008, Spitzer had been a major figure in New York – and indeed national — politics, first as New York’s attorney general, and then later as the state’s governor. “I would not be in this race if I did not think I could win,” Spitzer [told](http://politicker.com/2013/07/eliot-spitzer-expects-to-win-comptrollers-race/ "undefined") the New York _Observer_ Sunday evening. He [told](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/nyregion/spitzer-seeks-ballot-for-city-comptrollers-race.html?smid=tw-share&pagewanted=print "undefined") the New York _Times,_ which first [broke](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/nyregion/spitzer-seeks-ballot-for-city-comptrollers-race.html?smid=tw-share&pagewanted=print "undefined") the news_,_ that he believes he can transform the low-profile city comptroller’s office into a more powerful and influential force. “The metaphor is what I did with the attorney general’s office,” he told the paper. “It is ripe for greater and more exciting use of the office’s jurisdiction.” As attorney general, Spitzer waged an aggressive crusade against white-collar crime and securities fraud, by targeting some of the biggest financial [institutions](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/06ebf902-ea1c-11e1-929b-00144feab49a.html "undefined") and [personalities](http://upstart.bizjournals.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/03/10/Spitzer-in-Prostitution-Scandal.html?page=all "undefined") on Wall Street, including former New York Stock Exchange CEO Richard Grasso, whom Spitzer sued in 2004 over Grasso’s $140 million pay package. There [remains](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/nyregion/ex-chairman-of-new-york-stock-exchange-may-run-for-mayor.html?%5Fr=2 "undefined") no love lost between the two men. Spitzer may view the comptroller’s office as a way to return to his signature political issue: financial regulation and oversight. (**MORE**: [Eliot Spitzer’s Mission Impossible](http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1969595,00.html "undefined")) After eight years as attorney general, Spitzer was sworn in as Governor of New York on January 1, 2007\. He immediately began rubbing statewide politicos the wrong way. New York state politics is intensely hide-bound and parochial, and lawmakers objected to Spitzer’s abrasive style. In one famous [episode](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/item%5F4mIEGazm8WXt3Wicv3xsDK "undefined"), after just three weeks as governor, Spitzer reportedly threatened a Republican state lawmaker who had crossed him. “Listen, I’m a f—ing steamroller, and I’ll roll over you and anybody else,” Spitzer [told](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/item%5F4mIEGazm8WXt3Wicv3xsDK "undefined") New York State Assembly member James Tedisco. By then, Spitzer’s penchant for hardball politics was well known. In another memorable [episode](http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/eliot-spitzer-is-nothing-like-anthony-weiner "undefined"), Spitzer launched a tirade against John Whitehead, a former chairman of Goldman Sachs and an influential Big Apple power broker. “Mr. Whitehead, it’s now a war between us and you’ve fired the first shot,” Spitzer reportedly [said](http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/eliot-spitzer-is-nothing-like-anthony-weiner "undefined"). “I will be coming after you. You will pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay dearly for what you have done.” In March of 2008, _The Times_ [reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/nyregion/12cnd-kristen.html "undefined") that Spitzer, who was married with three daughters, had been a client of a New York-based escort service called Emperors Club VIP. Spitzer had apparently been conducting clandestine trysts over a period of several years with women who worked for the service, including a call girl named Ashley Alexandra Dupré. The New York City tabloids went wild – the _Post_ even [gave](http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/dating/item%5Fj3URtqouXQbPjZjERLIgMJ "undefined") Dupré her own column – and Spitzer resigned shortly after the revelations. He was never charged with a crime in the scandal. Spitzer’s quest for political redemption following a messy sex scandal mirrors that of New York mayoral contender Anthony D. Weiner, the married former U.S. congressman from New York who resigned after sending lewd photos to a number of other women. The political fate of both Weiner and Spitzer will test the appetite of New York voters to forgive fallen politicians. “I’m hopeful there will be forgiveness, I am asking for it,” Spitzer [told](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/nyregion/spitzer-seeks-ballot-for-city-comptrollers-race.html?smid=tw-share&pagewanted=print "undefined") the _Times_ Sunday evening. (**MORE**: [Was Spitzer Destined to Fall?](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1722250,00.html "undefined")) Following his political downfall, Spitzer has written [_columns for Slate_](http://www.slate.com/authors.eliot%5Fspitzer.html "undefined") and worked as a television host on Current TV and CNN. In recent years, he has worked in the office of his father, a wealthy New York real estate developer. Spitzer told the _Times_ he will pay for his campaign out of his own pocket, which means he won’t be bound by the city’s public campaign financing system, although he told the paper that he would use the system’s spending caps as a “guide.” To qualify for the ballot, Spitzer must collect at least 3,750 signatures from registered Democrats by Thursday. “I am going to be on the street corners,” Spitzer [told](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/nyregion/spitzer-seeks-ballot-for-city-comptrollers-race.html?smid=tw-share&pagewanted=print "undefined") the _Times_. “We will be out across the city.” His entry into the race sets up a political battle with Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, who is the leading Democratic candidate to become the next city comptroller. In an ironic twist of fate, another candidate seeking the New York City comptroller’s office is Kristin Davis, the so-called “Manhattan Madam” who was linked to the Spitzer prostitution scandal. Davis is running on the Libertarian ticket. “Happy birthday to me! What a great present — a chance to confront Eliot Spitzer,” Davis tweeted Sunday night. Shortly thereafter, Stringer’s campaign issued a statement responding to Spitzer’s entry into the race: “Scott Stringer has a proven record of results and integrity and entered this race to help New York’s middle class regain its footing,” said the [_statement_](http://www.ny1.com/content/top%5Fstories/185084/spitzer--in-comeback-attempt--will-run-for-city-comptroller "undefined"). “By contrast, Eliot Spitzer is going to spurn the campaign finance program to try and buy personal redemption with his family fortune. 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