Rep. Anthony Weiner, the one-time Democratic frontrunner in the race to unseat Mayor Michael Bloomberg, announced Tuesday night that he will not seek the mayoralty in November.

Weiner made the announcement in an op-ed piece in Wednesday’s New York Times, which appeared Tuesday night on the Times’ website.

“The mayor is expected to spend $80 million of his own money in the race,” Weiner wrote. “With spending like that, regular debates about real issues will probably take a back seat to advertising. As a native of Brooklyn, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t savor a good scrap. But I’m disappointed because I’m increasingly convinced a substantive debate simply isn’t likely right now.”

He added: “The sad truth for a political candidate without deep pockets is that while money isn’t the only thing, it does matter.”

Weiner signaled that he was considering dropping out of the race in March, when he sent a letter to supporters saying that he was contemplating whether to run.

Nevertheless, as recently as two weeks ago a Marist poll showed Weiner leading City Controller Bill Thompson 34 percent to 29 percent in a hypothetical Democratic primary.

However, the poll indicated that both men would lose to Bloomberg in a general election by at least 14 percentage points.

Weiner praised Thompson in his op-ed piece, saying that his respect for Thompson “only reinforces my conclusion that running in the primary against him in September would only drain the ability of the winner to compete in the general election.”

Weiner ran for mayor in 2005 and came close to winning the Democratic nomination over former Bronx borough president Fernando Ferrer, who went on to lose the general election to Bloomberg in a landslide.

(Source: NY1)