With Weiner Unlikely to Run, NYC Mayor Race Shifts

NEW YORK (AP) — Analysts say Rep. Anthony Weiner's Internet sex scandal makes it all but certain he'll sit out the race New York City mayor in 2013.

That has reshaped the political fight already simmering beneath the surface of New York City politics. And it has even led a celebrity, "30 Rock" actor Alec Baldwin, to publicly toy with the idea of jumping in to the game.

Hunter College political science professor Kenneth Sherrill says Weiner pulled off the unusual feat of appealing to both upper-class progressives in Manhattan and outer-borough middle-income workers.

Now all of those votes are up for grabs.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John Liu (LOO'), City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former city Comptroller Bill Thompson are among those who could benefit from the shift.