Marcus Hook, PA Mayor Jay Schiliro (R) has dropped his bid for reelection “after he was arrested on charges he abused his position to imprison a 20-year-old man during a drunken, gun-wielding encounter at his home,” the Delaware County Daily Times reports.

“Authorities allege that late on the evening of Feb. 21, Schiliro contacted the young man by text message and had a police officer deliver him to his borough home. There… the mayor allegedly gave the young man alcohol and produced three firearms, one of which was fired into papers inside the house. During the encounter, the mayor repeatedly asked the young man if he could give him oral sex.”

Saying that he would like, at some point, to “ask people to give me a second chance,” disgraced Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) told the New York Times he is mulling a run for mayor this year because “it’s now or maybe never for me.”

Weiner cautioned that he did not know when he would decide about entering the race, and conceded that “the fact that I don’t know tells me I shouldn’t run. Or I should not run now.”

Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, gave an extensive interview to the New York Times Magazine.

Politico: “Were Weiner to run, it would be one of the most remarkable comeback efforts launched in a short time frame, as New York City prepares for the post-Giuliani, post-Bloomberg era with a Democratic mayoral field generally regarded as weak.”

The New York Times Magazine has landed an extensive interview with former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and his wife Huma Abedin which will run in the coming weeks, Politico reports.

The news comes just weeks after reports that Weiner is polling for a possible New York City mayoral race.

“Every time a politician is arrested in New York it should not feel like a scene from Groundhog Day. And yet it does.”

— U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, quoted by Politicker, on the plot to rig the New York City mayoral race.

New York State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D) and City Councilman Dan Halloran (R) “were arrested this morning on charges they plotted to rig this year’s mayoral election through fraud and bribes,” the New York Post reports.

“The pols allegedly formed an alliance built on cash payments and fraud to get Smith — one of the state’s top Democrats — placed on the GOP mayoral ballot, sources said.”

Law enforcement sources tell NBC 4 New York that Smith “was allegedly involved in a plot to try to get onto this year’s GOP mayoral ballot by offering payments to Republican county chairmen.”

A new SurveyUSA poll in the Los Angeles mayoral runoff finds Eric Garcetti leading Wendy Greuel by seven points, 47% to 40%.

“I have always said I’ve had a big personality, and I’ve always said I’m a pushy broad, and I’ve always said I want to get things done. Sometimes to get things done you have to be aggressive.”

— New York City mayoral candidate Christine Quinn (D), quoted by ABC News, responding to a scathing New York Times profile.

The Boston Globe says 70-year-old Boston Mayor Thomas Menino “can seem wistful, almost nostalgic about his two decades in office, like a man contemplating what it would be like to say good-bye. The truth, according to staffers, friends, and acquaintances, is that Menino is struggling with the decision about whether to run.”

“I love life. And I get beaten up about the fact that I love life, from time to time.”

— Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, quoted by the New York Times, reflecting on his term in office.

Kansas City Mayor Sly James (I) was delivering an upbeat State of the City speech when an irate man commandeered the microphone, the Kansas City Star reports.

James “quickly recovered his composure and delivered the rest of his speech before a crowd of about 250 people.”

[Read more…]

The new mayor of Helper, Utah was chosen by picking a name from a basket, KSL-TV reports.

In two rounds of voting, Ed Chavez and Kirk Mascaro “each received two votes from the City Council to fill the mayor’s seat. When it became clear that the tie would not be broken, the slips of paper bearing the council members’ votes were placed in a wicker basket… City Attorney Gene Strate then drew Chavez’s name from the basket, making him Helper’s new chief executive officer.”

Just 16% of registered voters in Los Angeles actually voted in this week’s mayoral election.

One possible reason: The Los Angeles Times reports that most “get their news from local television stations, which devote far more time to covering the weather — which is exactly the same 320 days a year — than to local politics and government.”

With all precincts reporting in the Los Angeles mayoral race, City Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel will face off in what is expected to be a bruising May 21 runoff, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Only 16% of the city’s 1.8 million registered voters cast ballots in the election.

A man has been charged in the death of a mayoral candidate in the Mississippi Delta, KLTV reports.

Family members revealed in a statement that 34-year-old Marco McMillan (D) — whose campaign was noteworthy because he may have been the first openly gay man to be a viable candidate for public office in Mississippi — was beaten, dragged and burned.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) declared Detroit in a state of financial emergency, paving the way for an emergency manager to be appointed to run Michigan’s largest city, the Detroit News reports.

“Snyder said he has a candidate in mind but would not name that
person, noting the city has a 10-day window to appeal that ends March
11. A hearing for a possible appeal has been set for March 12.”

Carl Paladino (R), the combative former candidate for New York governor, is running for a seat on the Buffalo school board, WHEC-TV reports.

“Injecting millions of dollars into elections from coast to coast, billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is building on a large-scale effort that began last fall to expand his influence beyond his home turf,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“His growing national profile was on display Wednesday when he visited the White House to talk to Vice President Joe Biden about new gun laws. The trip came one day after a Chicago congressional candidate backed by $2.5 million of Mr. Bloomberg’s money came from behind and won a special Democratic primary for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s seat.”

Said Bloomberg: “Is it a harbinger of what’s to come? I think so.”

Stu Rothenberg
isn’t impressed:
“Pick a fight in a place where you have a substantial advantage and
where almost nobody else is playing, dump a ton of money attacking one
candidate and supporting another, and then declare victory when —
surprise! surprise! — your candidate wins.”

A new Quinnipiac poll finds New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) is closing in on the 40% target needed to avoid a runoff election as she leads the Democratic primary for mayor with 37%, more than three other candidates combined.