NEW YORK CITY: Koch Endorses Quinn

Closeted former NYC Mayor Ed Koch says that when openly gay City Council Speaker Christine Quinn formally announces her 2013 run for mayor, he'll endorse her. But he makes no bones about Quinn not being his first choice.

Former Mayor Ed Koch thinks Chris Quinn is the best person to take his old job in 2013 now that he’s given up his dream of seeing NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly in City Hall. “I urged Ray Kelly to run for the last year-and-a-half. He told me he would not. I urged him again, he told me he would not. And when he decided he would not, I started backing Chris Quinn,” Mayor Koch told Politicker.

Quinn seems to have survived her 2008 financial scandal relatively well, although a small but extremely vocal contingent of LGBT enemies continue to dog many of her public appearances. Other possible 2013 mayoral contenders have problems of their own. City Comptroller John Liu is currently embroiled in a financial scandal involving Chinese nationals who may have illegally funneled money to his campaign. As for Anthony Weiner, some still do hold out dimming hopes of his running.