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Spitzer leads race for New York City comptroller

New Yorkers may not get Anthony Weiner, but they may be about to see the return to public office of Eliot Spitzer.

Buoyed by black voters, Spitzer -- the once-popular former Empire State governor who resigned after he was implicated in a prostitution scandal -- has a 19-point lead in the race for New York City Comptroller.

He leads Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer 56-37 percent in a Quinnipiac poll of New York Democratic primary voters out Wednesday. That’s a 14-point jump in the survey from three weeks ago, when Spitzer led narrowly, 49-45 percent.

Black voters back him by a whopping 68-21 percent margin over Stringer. Stringer leads with whites 53-43 percent.

“Everyone seems to be against former Gov. Eliot Spitzer except the voters, especially black voters,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a press release. 

Spitzer also leads with men 58-37 percent and even women 54-36 percent.

Just less than one-in-four Democrats -- 23 percent -- say his past behavior is disqualifying.

Compare that to the 51 percent who said in a Quinnipiac poll out Tuesday that they would not vote for the other scandal-plagued New York pol, who has gotten much more of the attention -- former Congressman Weiner, who is running for mayor.