Rep. Anthony Weiner exits politics, but is it forever?

Reporting from New York and Washington

Over howls from hecklers and cheers from die-hard fans, Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress in a brief and raucous news conference that raised more questions than it answered, from the future prospects for the fallen Democratic star and his district to the whereabouts of his wife, who was a no-show as her husband’s sexting scandal cost him his job.

Ten days after confessing that he had sent sexually provocative online messages to several women, Weiner bowed to pressure that peaked this week when President Obama said that if he were in the congressman’s shoes, he would quit. Weiner, who had vowed to stay in office, acknowledged Thursday that the scandal was hampering his, and all of Congress’, ability to work.

PHOTOS: Rep. Anthony Weiner sexting scandal

“I had hoped to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district had elected me to do: to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it,” Weiner said. “Unfortunately, the distraction I have created has made that impossible.”

What lies ahead is far from certain.

If Weiner decided to try a political comeback, he would have the means: He has nearly $5 million in campaign money, nearly all of it in a committee formed for his mayoral bid. The seven-term congressman had made it clear he planned to run for mayor of New York in 2013.

Members of the New York congressional delegation expressed sadness over their colleague’s fall, but optimism about his future.

“There’s no doubt in my mind this is not the end of Mr. Weiner,” said Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), who has known Weiner since he served on the New York City Council. “He’s a very talented individual and he’s done a lot of good things.”

Towns said he wouldn’t rule out a Weiner mayoral candidacy. “You never know. There are other people who made mistakes and have bounced back and are doing great things. After all, these things happen all the time.”

But crisis management expert Gene Grabowski of Levick Strategic Communications, a Washington firm with a client roster that includes politicians, athletes and corporations, said Weiner’s first move should be to finish whatever treatment he is receiving.

“Then you come out, you redeem yourself. You talk a little bit about your experience, how you’ve seen the error of your ways. People love rebirth in this country,” said Grabowski, citing former Washington Mayor Marion Barry, who was caught on camera smoking crack cocaine with a prostitute. “He went to prison, found religion, starting singing ‘Amazing Grace,’ and it worked,’ ” Grabowski said.

Grabowski expressed doubts that Weiner could return to politics because of the repeated lying that preceded his confession. Instead, he suggested Weiner could look toward the career he envisioned in college: TV personality. That’s the route taken by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who was forced to resign in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal and who now has a show on CNN.

But Lanny Davis, a Clinton White House veteran who also runs a Washington crisis management firm, said he believed Weiner still had a shot at politics.

“I learned a lot from my experience with President Clinton,” said Davis. “The American people are pretty smart and they are pretty compassionate, and they get the distinction between human weakness and public performance in office.”

Weiner spoke for less than five minutes and chose a site heavy in symbolism and nostalgia for his exit: a senior citizens home in Brooklyn where he launched his political career in the early 1990s by announcing his run for City Council. Several elderly residents, many leaning on canes or in wheelchairs, crowded the sides of the room, which is normally used for meals and social events.

If Weiner thought the location would guarantee a dignified or somber parting, he was wrong. Cheers from supporters competed with shouts from at least two hecklers from the moment he entered the room. One heckler was from Howard Stern’s radio show; another screamed, “Bye-bye, pervert!”

Speaking without emotion, Weiner apologized again to constituents and to his wife, Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He did not mention future political goals, but said, “Now I’ll be looking for other ways to contribute my talents” to bolstering the middle class.

Weiner’s fall from grace, and possible redemption, weighed on some voters in the room.

“The American public is very strange,” said Elizabeth Viggiano, a Brooklyn resident who had repeatedly voted for Weiner and who said she would do it again. “We put people on a pedestal, and then we wait for them to fall.”

But Ed Corrado, who also watched the announcement and who said he had voted several times for Weiner, said it would be difficult for him to support Weiner again if he re-entered politics.

“I loved him as a politician,” he said, emphasizing the “d” in “loved.” He said Weiner would need to prove he had undergone a “sincere and significant” change to get back his support. Asked how long that could take, Corrado said, “About five years.”

Weiner is the third member of New York’s House delegation to be brought down by a sex scandal in a little over a year. Democrat Eric Massa stepped down in March 2010 amid allegations of sexual harassment. Republican Christopher Lee, who is married, resigned in February after he was caught sending photos of himself shirtless to a potential date on Craigslist.

The scandal came as Democrats had landed on what they hope will be the defining issue of the 2012 election cycle: the House GOP’s plans to turn Medicare into a voucher program. As news of Weiner’s decision spread on Capitol Hill on Thursday, one Democratic aide described the next step succinctly: refocus on Medicare.

On Thursday, Republicans showed little interest in trying to make Weiner’s solidly Democratic district the stage for political payback. Keeping expectations low, one Republican aide called the Democrats’ 130,000-voter registration advantage “Mount Everest.”

Still, the Brooklyn part of the district voted for Republican Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and Weiner faced one of his toughest reelections last year, when Republican businessman Bob Turner spent more than $100,000 of his own money to run. Turner won 39% of the vote. He’s being discussed as a possible repeat contender.

Weiner’s departure was the culmination of an effort by House Democrats that began immediately after his June 6 come-clean news conference. House Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and other leaders immediately called for the ethics commission to investigate. Key members then called for his resignation.

Two days later, after an X-rated photo of Weiner’s genitals appeared online, Pelosi and New York Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, made the plea directly. In phones calls, they and other leaders urged Weiner to resign and seek treatment, according to a senior Democratic aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity and was not authorized to comment.

The congressman made no moves as polls showed he still had considerable support from his constituents. In a June 10 phone call, Pelosi dismissed the poll numbers, telling Weiner to “consider those rose petals to let you go graciously,” according to the aide.

Weiner conceded Wednesday, while his colleagues were hobnobbing at the White House picnic. Speaking on the phone with Israel, Weiner said he would give up his post. Israel handed the phone to Pelosi so she could hear it directly, the aide said.

tina.susman@latimes.com

kathleen.hennessey@latimes.com

Times staff writers Robin Abcarian in Los Angeles, Geraldine Baum in New York, and Michael A. Memoli and Lisa Mascaro in the Washington bureau contributed to this report.