NEW YORK — Eliot Spitzer's fledgling bid to return to politics neared a key deadline Thursday, when thousands of petition signatures were due only four days after the tarnished ex-governor launched his New York City comptroller campaign.
He had until midnight to collect at least 3,750 valid petition signatures to get on the Democratic primary ballot for September.
"We're doing well. For tonight, we'll be comfortable with what we file with," the Democrat told Fox 5 News while out for a run early Thursday. He wouldn't specify how many signatures his campaign had gathered.
Experts say it's difficult, but doable, to garner that many signatures in so few days. Spitzer himself noted Wednesday night that "the number is big."
Spitzer, who resigned amid a prostitution scandal in 2008, startled the political establishment and shook up what had been a tame comptroller's race by jumping into it, a decision he says he just made over the weekend.
City candidates were allowed to start petitioning in early June, and many did. Campaigns generally gather two to three times as many signatures as needed, in case some are challenged as having incomplete addresses, missing dates or other flaws.
Spitzer has said he's aiming for 7,500 signatures. His self-financed campaign has offered canvassers $12 an hour to collect them.
Some candidates submit far more signatures than needed in an effort to broadcast widespread support. Spitzer's Democratic rival, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, amassed more than 100,000 signatures through an all-volunteer effort, his campaign said.
