Jewish & World News

Anthony Weiner, the congressman who resigned his New York seat in 2011 after he misfired a photo of his groin on Twitter and then lied about his sexual exploits online, is eyeing a run for mayor and says he wants to ask voters for a second chance. The Democrat tells the New York Times Magazine in a story posted online Wednesday that he is considering a return to politics, and believes now may be the moment.

The early front-runner in the mayoral race, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, is finding herself subject to new attacks. She is the subject of the first attack ad of the campaign, and she does not like it one bit. The 30-second spot, created by the independent group NYC Is Not For Sale, attacks Quinn for her stance on progressive issues including the living wage and sick leave bills.

In the wake of two corruption cases announced last week that led to the arrests of members of the State Legislature, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Monday that he would push for changes to the state’s election and campaign fund-raising laws, declaring, “Never waste a crisis, as they say.” The governor, in an interview on a public radio program, said he believed that the arrests would prompt enough of a public outcry that state legislators would finally be motivated to consider reforming a variety of ethics and fund-raising laws that they had previously resisted changing.

A new attack ad labels Council Speaker Christine Quinn a power-hungry politician who has turned her back on liberal New Yorkers in her quest for City Hall. “Virtually all of Christine Quinn’s decisions were made in rooms just like this, with her friends in the 1%,” says the narrator, as an image of a smoke-filled room appears, accompanied by ominous piano music.

City comptroller John Liu officially launched his campaign for mayor Sunday. Liu made the announcement surrounded by supporters on the steps of City Hall Sunday afternoon. He joins a crowded democratic field that includes City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, and former City Comptroller Bill Thompson.

Joseph J. Lhota, a Republican running for mayor of New York City, over the past two months has raised $730,000, a sizable figure for such a short period and a show of political muscle for the first-time candidate. Mr. Lhota’s fund-raising, which was described by a person with close ties to his campaign, started on Jan. 12 and ended on March 11. A late entrant into this year’s race, he raised more in the first two months of the year than any candidate during the same period in 2005 or 2009, the last years in which there were mayoral campaigns.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn formally launched her bid for mayor Sunday morning, with a post on her Twitter feed. "It's official: I’m running for mayor to fight for the middle class," Quinn said in the message, which included a link to a video on her website of her introducing herself to voters. "Together, we can keep our streets safe, improve our schools, provide affordable housing and create good paying jobs in all five boroughs," she tells voters on the site.

He doesn't have a Facebook page or Twitter account but that hasn't stopped longshot Brooklyn Borough President candidate John Gangemi Sr. from chasing a new generation of voters. “I don't tweet or Twitter. I communicate by letters, telephone, email and faxing,” said Gangemi, 74, a former City Councilman who lives in Bensonhurst.

Long Island congressman Peter King is none too pleased with a fellow Republican from Florida. Senator Marco Rubio drew the indignant ire of Rep. King after word came the 2016 GOP presidential hopeful was raising money on Wall Street just months after voting no on a $50.5 billion Superstorm Sandy relief bill in Congress.

The Senate Finance Committee approved the nomination of Jack Lew to be Treasury secretary on Tuesday, paving the way for a full Senate vote. The nomination was approved by the committee on a 19-5 vote. Senate leaders have not yet scheduled a vote by the full Senate, but Lew is not expected to face the same heavy Republican opposition as more controversial nominees, such as Obama's pick for Defense secretary, Chuck Hagel.

A Brooklyn assemblyman accused of sexually harassing young female staffers says he has pneumonia and his health is "deteriorating." In a one-paragraph statement on Tuesday, 71-year-old Vito Lopez says it's the second pneumonia diagnosis in nine months. He says he's "extremely fatigued" with limited mobility.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has hauled in some serious cash since his water sipping moment Tuesday during the Republican response to the State of the Union.

The two top House Republican leaders will address the Republican Jewish Coalition national leadership meeting. The RJC announced this week that it had confirmed attendance by U.S. Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the House of Representatives speaker, and Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the majority leader, for the meeting April 18-21 in Las Vegas.

The 19th Knesset convened for its inaugural session Tuesday, a traditional plenum session during which all Knesset members pledged their allegiance to the State and its laws. The new Knesset has a record number of new legislators – 53 – and 48 of them have never held a parliamentary seat. The 19th Knesset now also holds the record for having the highest number of women and religious MKs – 27 and 38 respectively. Thirteen of the house members are Arab and Druze.

The median net worth of the freshmen lawmakers in Congress is $1 million more than the typical American household, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. Some 94 new senators and representatives joined Congress, and their estimated median wealth stood at $1.07 million at the end of 2011, according to data collected from personal financial disclosure forms. The typical American household is worth $66,740.

A stolen rental truck packed with equipment for a vice presidential Labor Day campaign event in Detroit was found on Monday, the Secret Service said. Agency spokesman Ed Donovan said the U-Haul truck that disappeared on Sunday from the Westin Hotel was discovered by police near Henry Ford Hospital.

The most re-distributed tweet of the Republican National Convention came from a Democrat. A representative of Twitter said Sunday that President Barack Obama’s message rebuffing Clint Eastwood’s speech was the most re-tweeted message of the GOP event. "@BarackObama  This seat's taken. OFA.BO/c2gbfi, pic.twitter.com/jgGZTb02"

U-Haul truck loaded with equipment for a Monday event featuring Vice President Joe Biden was stolen in Detroit Sunday, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service said. "A U-Haul that we were utilizing was stolen at the Westin Hotel overnight," Ed Donovan told CNN.

The bungling Board of Elections sent notices to voters last month directing them to the wrong polling places for the next election. Board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez confirmed the mishap, but said she didn’t know how many errant notices were sent during the July 2 mailing. A corrected version was sent out Aug. 1.

Three days after accepting his party's nomination for president, Mitt Romney on Sunday crossed the one-million mark in Twitter followers. Saturday night, he fell just 3,000 followers short of threshold, and around 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Romney posted that he now had 1million .