Disgraced Weiner announces NYC mayoral bid ANTHONY Weiner, the disgraced ex-US congressman forced to resign after tweeting lewd photos of himself to women, has announced he is running for mayor of New York. The unlikely comeback, which Weiner has been talking about for months, was announced in an online video in which he acknowledged erring and learning a lesson, and asked for a second chance. He depicted himself as a champion of the middle-class. "I made some big mistakes and I know I let a lot of people down," he said. I have been fighting for the middle-class and those struggling to make it my entire life. And I hope to get a second chance to work for you. Weiner, 48, was once seen as a frontrunner to replace billionaire Michael Bloomberg in November elections to the Big Apple's City Hall. The Democrat's hard-charging political career in the US House of Representatives imploded in 2011 with the X-rated Twitter scandal. Weiner, who is married to Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's top aide during her time as secretary of state, initially claimed his Twitter account had been hacked and he had not sent the pictures. He finally admitted the truth and also said that for several years he'd been in racy exchanges via text message and Twitter with women that he never met. Last month, Weiner reopened a Twitter account in an apparent political comeback drive. He retweeted a document called "64 ideas to keep new york the capital of the middle class," and another on Earth Day, quickly luring more than 5000 followers. Polls show the already crowded field in the New York mayoral race is led by current City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Democrat, who would be the city's first female mayor. Bloomberg will complete his third term in office in December.