Jay Inslee (AP)
MONEYMAN: Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer is hoping his fund-raising ability puts him back on the political map, insiders say. (
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The Love Gov is climbing back into bed — with lawmakers.
For the first time since a tawdry hooker scandal trashed his political career, Eliot Spitzer is holding a fund-raiser for a politician looking to make a national splash.
The former governor is hosting the event at his Fifth Avenue home for Washington state gubernatorial hopeful Jay Inslee on March 5.
Inslee, currently a Democrat in the House of Representatives, shares many of Spitzer’s left-leaning political stances.
Insiders believe Spitzer’s soiree shows he’s trying to become a political mover and shaker once again — this time as a national kingmaker.
“The second-oldest profession in the world is political fund raising,” a politico sniffed yesterday.
Inslee has been a lawmaker since 1992, climbing steadily through the legislative ranks of the Pacific Northwest state.
And, like Spitzer, he supports gay marriage, is considered a “environmental champion” by his boosters and is pro-choice.
“Eliot thinks he is a winner,” reads the invitation to the event from the disgraced governor’s longtime fund-raiser, Cynthia R. Darrison, who is now also working for Inslee.
In the invite, Darrison also asks, “Would you be willing to contribute $2,500 toward the campaign?”
Aside from a campaign contribution, tickets range from $1,000 to $3,600.
Fund-raising is also a chance for Spitzer to test the political waters without drawing too much attention locally.
“Eliot is smart to get back to fund-raising with an out-of-state race, to not automatically generate any new local enemies,” a source said. “This is a shrewd way for him to get back in the game.”
Spitzer declined to comment.
The once-powerful politician has walked a rocky road since it was revealed that he was known to a ring of high-priced prostitutes as “Client 9.”
The Democratic Party’s once-rising star quickly resigned after the scandal exploded in 2008.
He surfaced two years later as the co-host of a CNN talk show, “Parker Spitzer,” with co-host Kathleen Parker — and was barred from fund-raising because of the high-profile media job.
But the show, renamed “In the Arena” after Parker left, was dogged by low ratings and bad chemistry between the hosts.
CNN canceled it last summer.
As his TV career was collapsing, Spitzer began working the political-insider circuit heavily.
One private dinner put Spitzer across the table from a fellow former governor, New Jersey’s Jon Corzine, sources said.
At the time, Corzine was running MF Global and raising tons of cash for President Obama.
Spitzer was seeking Corzine’s counsel as he contemplated his political future, sources said.
Additional reporting by Josh Margolin