Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer Leading Dem Primary Opposition

A new poll finds former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer are in solid shape to win Democratic primaries for New York City offices despite the sex scandals that drove them from office.

A poll from Quinnipiac University, released on Monday afternoon, finds Weiner taking 25 percent of New York City Democrats with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn with 22 percent. Former city Comptroller William Thompson is in distant third with 11 percent while 10 percent back city Public Advocate Bill de Blasion. Comptroller John Liu gets 7 percent and former City Councilman Sal Albanese lags way behind with 1 percent.

Spitzer is trouncing Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, 48 percent to 33 percent, to lead the Democratic primary for city comptroller.

"Notoriety has earned the 'Tabloid Twins,' former Governor Eliot Spitzer as Client 9 and former Congressman Anthony (Tweets) Weiner, good initial numbers in the polls," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Whether those numbers hold up in the real poll on primary Election Day is the big question.

"Is this still a headline-driven campaign, with Weiner and Spitzer dominating the news?" Carroll continued. "Is it better to be well-known mainly for a scandal than to be largely unknown? Will voters learn more about Thompson, de Blasio, Liu and Stringer in the next eight weeks? And will it matter? We'll keep polling and looking for answers."

The poll of 738 registered New York City Democrats was taken from July 8-14 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percent.