Eliot Spitzer had politely declined all spring. When other reporters called, wanting him to weigh in on the New York City mayoral race, especially because his longtime antagonist Andrew Cuomo seemed headed for an improbable comeback win, the ex-governor said no. When Vanity Fair called last week, though, Spitzer talked.

Spitzer, 66, has largely retreated from public political life. In 2008, he resigned, in the midst of a prostitution scandal, from the state’s top job. Spitzer reemerged to host a CNN show, and he made a losing run for city comptroller in 2013. Since then, however, he has spent most of his time running Spitzer Enterprises, the real estate development company founded by his father, Bernard, in 1952.

Spitzer has crossed paths with Donald Trump for decades. And he was

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