Former New York City public advocate Betsy Gotbaum declined to endorse her stepson, Noah Gotbaum, for the same office, the New York Times reports.

Gotbaum said that her decision was not personal and that she and her stepson had “a close relationship.”

Chicago Tribune: “With a potential re-election bid still two years away, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is quietly accelerating his campaign fundraising, tapping donors to President Barack Obama, venture capitalists, law firms and leaders of his economic development team.”

“I couldn’t betray my true feelings. I was disgusted by gays. The thought of two men kissing each other was about as appealing as a frontal lobotomy.”

— Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D), writing in the Stanford Daily in 1990 on how he came to accept homosexuals.

“It’s typical of Congress, it’s typical of unions, it’s typical of companies, I guess, where a small group is really carrying the ball and the others aren’t necessarily in agreement. The NRA is another place where the membership, if you do the polling, doesn’t agree with the leadership.”

— New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, quoted by the New York Times, comparing teachers’ unions to the National Rifle Association.

A behind-the-scenes political maneuver by Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) to fill a vacant council seat with his choice “led to a near-riot in city hall tonight, with dozens of residents rushing the council stage and police responding with pepper-spray,” the Newark Star Ledger reports.

Booker made an unprecedented personal appearance to cast the deciding vote for Shanique Davis Speight to fill the seat of Rep.-elect Donald Payne Jr. (D), who was just elected to Congress. Booker’s opponents were pushing for John James, the son of former Newark mayor Sharpe James, who Booker beat in 2006.

Booker was able to cast the decisive vote when James allies on the city council stormed off in protest.

The power play was planned by Booker chief of staff Modia Bulter: “We did our research. We abided by the rules and guidelines. We didn’t run afoul of anything.”

“You all beat up on good people for doing good things. I’m not ever telling.”

— Washington, DC councilman Marion Barry, quoted by Washington City Paper, refusing to say who is paying for his Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway, adding that it’s only “liberal white folks” who care.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “spent upwards of $9 million of his own money in the final ten days of the 2012 campaign in support of candidates who shared his views on gun control and political moderation, a sizable sum that portends how the billionaire envisions his life outside of the mayor’s office after his third term concludes in 2013,” the Washington Post reports.

Said aide Howard Wolfson: “This is just the beginning. On issues like guns and education, Mike Bloomberg is poised to play an even bigger role in advancing a mainstream agenda and influencing elections.”

A campaign adviser to Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray (D) tells WUSA-TV  that the mayor won’t run again regardless of the outcome of a federal probe.

Gray is reportedly supporting a new candidate, though that candidate was not named.

“You know, it’s America and I don’t wish him any ill. He’s got to make a living, and he’s got to have a life and whatever he thinks is appropriate.”

— New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, quoted by the New York Observer, on whether disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) should make a political comeback.

A new Washington Post poll finds 57% of District of Columbia residents think Mayor Vincent Gray (D) should resign, revealing “how deeply the continuing campaign corruption scandal has eroded the city’s support for its mayor.”

Gray’s support is dwindling even among his political base, with 48% of African Americans saying he should resign.

About 15 years ago several residents “didn’t like the candidates who were running for mayor of Talkeetna, so as a joke, they encouraged enough people to elect Stubbs the cat as a write-in candidate, and he actually won,” KTUU-TV reports.

Gawker: “The position is mostly honorary, allowing the 15-year-old Manx mix to
spend most of his time greeting tourists at Nagley’s General Store.”

After an article suggested he’s gearing up for a political comeback, former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) declined to comment when asked directly about his immediate political ambitions, the New York Times reports.

“He wants to return to politics, according to friends and former staff members… His refusal to address his political future only stirred further speculation.”

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) — who is sitting on a $4.5 million campaign war chest — “is mulling a bid for citywide office next year and ‘seriously considering’ a mayoral run,” the New York Post reports.

“Weiner, 47, has even spoken to former staffers about going back to work for him… And he wants to run soon because the public match on his campaign funds are due to expire after the 2013 election.”

“The buzz in political circles is that the sext-happy Weiner has a better shot at public advocate — a $165,000-a-year job viewed as a ‘cleansing’ post where he could put his character issues further behind him as he prepped for a 2017 mayoral run.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson tells New York magazine that cities are all about prestige, which is the central thesis of his new book.

Said Johnson: “We seek cities because there are a greater range of girls at the bar, of
reproductive choice. Number one. Number two is there are better
outcomes for health and wealth. And now we care more about the
environment, and cities are better for the environment. But above all, talented people seek cities for fame. They can’t get famous in the fucking village.”

Jack Bohrer: “Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s star has been rising for what seems like an eternity. His fame rests largely upon a number of almost absurdly heroic acts, which have varied from harrowing to Hollywood-esque: saving a resident from a burning building, cradling a twelve-year-old dying from gunshot wounds, hunger-striking for better police protection in the projects, sleeping in a trailer for five months to halt open-air drug markets. Along with Booker’s media-friendly persona, these superhero moves have ensured a steady stream of adulation.”

“His first spate of national press came in the spring of 2000 — the same year that another attractive young political figure flew from Chicago to Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention, had his credit card declined at the rental car station, and went home without even getting inside the arena. Yet this summer, Barack Obama will attend the second convention in his honor and compete for another term as arguably the most legislatively successful Democratic president in a half-century — while Booker is little further along than where he started.

“…Booker and Obama made their names by rejecting the business-as-usual
politics of Newark and Washington, respectively. But Booker is still
defined more by his promise than by his accomplishments.”

A new We Ask America poll in Chicago finds Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s job approval rating at 64%.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s (D) communication director confirmed to the Newark Star Ledger that she is resigning in the wake of Booker’s disastrous appearance on Meet The Press last week.

Said Anne Torres: “I just decided it is best if I pursued other opportunities. We have very different views on how communications should be run.”

Dan O’Leary, the city manager for Keller, Texas, “decided that someone from the top management ranks at City Hall had to go. So the person he laid off was himself,” the Fort Worth Star Telegram reports.