It sounds delusional, but besieged Assemblyman Vito Lopez has told some people he might run for the City Council next year.
“He was saying this right after he was charged with sex harassment,” said one stunned source.
Whether Lopez means it or not is impossible to tell.
“That’s Vito being Vito,” shrugged one lobbyist who has known Lopez for years.
“He’s always bragging he’s going to do this, he’s going to that.”
But others say he might be serious.
“It would be his vindication,” said one insider. “I don’t think he wants to stay in the Assembly if he’s not going to be a committee chair.”
Lopez was stripped of most of his powers, including chairman of the powerful Housing Committee, two weeks ago after an ethics panel censured him for sexually harassing two young female staffers.
He has denied the charges and has rebuffed calls from some of the state’s top Democrats, including Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver, that he step down.
Most political observers think it’s only a matter of time before Lopez caves in.
Assuming he isn’t slapped with criminal charges — and that remains far from certain — there’s nothing that would stop him from becoming a council candidate in 2013.
Lopez has been obsessed for years with grabbing the Bushwick seat now held by Diana Reyna, a former aide he’s never forgiven for breaking with him, acting independently and refusing to toe his dictatorial line.
An all-out effort by Lopez to topple Reyna in 2009 fell short by 251 votes.
Reyna is term-limited and can’t run again next year. She’s supporting her chief-of-staff, Antonio Reynoso.
Lopez won’t have to worry about funding. He had nearly $1.3 million in his campaign account as of July. Even if he has to spend half on criminal lawyers, that would still leave him three or four times as much as any likely opponent.