Ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner is already topping New York mayoral polls, despite only being back in contention as a possible candidate one week.

Weiner, who resigned from Congress in 2011 after a sexting scandal, came in second behind City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Last week in an extensive New York Times Magazine profile the former U.S. Rep hinted that he may throw his hat in this year's mayoral run. The Brooklyn born politician had begun to amass a campaign fund for the 2013 mayoral run before he stepped down in June 2011.

The latest Marist College/NBC New York poll found that Speaker Quinn remains the top pick of 26 percent of registered Democrats, while Weiner had the support of 15 percent of Dems.

“[Weiner’s] numbers make him viable even if he hasn’t established a credible candidacy yet,” said pollster Lee Miringoff.

“His numbers have improved since our previous polls, so that’s encouraging for him but there’s still huge obstacles,” Miringoff added.

In the latest poll ahead of September’s primary, Weiner beat City Controller John Liu, who won the support of 12 percent of voters. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former Comptroller Bill Thompson each had the backing of 11 percent of voters.

Despite the favorable poll results, the Quinn camp remained confident.

“New Yorkers are going to vote for mayor based on who has the strongest record of delivering results and who they can trust to lead on the issues most important to the middle class,” Quinn spokesman Mike Morey told the Daily News. “That person is Chris Quinn.”

The findings showed that only 38 percent of registered voters are paying attention to the mayor’s race.The survey of 1,127 New York City registered voters was conducted over five days.
 

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