MADAME GUV? Brothel owner in Spitzer scandal declares run

A FEW YEARS BACK, Kristin Davis ran a brothel in the heart of Center City Philadelphia.

Now she's running for New York governor.

Her skills seem well-suited for politics.

Davis, known as the Manhattan Madam for her involvement in the sex scandal of former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, announced her candidacy Monday at New York's Roosevelt Hotel, and although some won't take her run for public office seriously, neither she nor it is a joke. Davis has a platform and an advantage - a little black book filled with the names of rich and powerful men who want their names to stay in that book.

"I'm assuming that the loudest person against me will be a former client," Davis said Friday, when she sat down with the People Paper at Manhattan's aptly named Rogue restaurant/bar. "The loudest voice is usually the biggest hypocrite."

It was a perfect day to meet with the madam-who-would-be-governor: Gov. David Paterson had just announced he would not seek re-election due to a scandal in his administration, and the House Ethics Committee found longtime Manhattan congressman Charles Rangel violated House rules by accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean.

The irony was not lost on Davis, who's sure to be labeled by some as too amoral to serve.

"These career politicans are only out for their own interests," she said.

That includes Spitzer (whose more exotic interests were catered to by Davis' employees), the attorney general-then-governor who made a name for himself going after Wall Street thieves, prostitutes and pimps, while being one of the oldest profession's finest customers.

"Eliot Spitzer did not have charges brought against him," said Davis, whose assets were seized and who, even as a first offender, was held on a bond of $2 million (which she couldn't pay once her assets were seized) and served four months on Rikers Island.

"It's a huge integrity issue when the chief executive of a state is not held to the same standards as the average citizen," she said.

So Davis' run is maybe 9/10ths crusade and 1/10th revenge. She's still bitter about her stint in Rikers for what she believes is a victimless crime ("It's full of maggots, roaches and rats, and the inmates are mostly drug addicts going through withdrawal vomiting on themselves"), her inability to face her accusers ("I thought that was a constitutional right"), her forced decision to plead to a felony ("I'd already forfeited my assets; I couldn't risk 1 1/2 to 3 years") and her being sent to attend weekly probation meetings as part of the Sex Offenders Unit ("I go to meetings with almost all men, 90 percent of whom are rapists and child molesters").

Ironically, Davis said, "Being a prostitute is not considered a sex offense. Being a madam is."

Davis said she views herself as a Libertarian/Republican, but she's old-school conservative - lower taxes, less government - not morally conservative.

The key to her platform is that prostitution, marijuana use and gay marriage should all be legal.

"It's a huge disgrace that New York has been unable to pass a marriage-equality act," she said. "They're all a bunch of cowards."

As for marijuana, Davis said, "I haven't seen any studies proving marijuana is a gateway drug, and I know many New Yorkers who would happily pay an excise tax on it.

"We need to increase revenue in the state. All career politicians do is raise taxes and cut services.

"My background is in finance. I was vice president of a hedge fund [and her "escort" service was a multimillion-dollar affair with an eight-person call center in Uruguay]. I've created jobs. What have these guys ever done?"

As for legalizing prostitution, Davis said, there are numerous benefits besides raising revenue. "The underground business," she said, "is sort of the leech of society." She believes that legalizing prostitution would be better for the public health and safer for women now walking the streets.

Julissa Brisman, who was allegedly murdered by "Craigslist Killer" Philip Markoff in Boston, once worked for her. Davis believes that if any of Markoff's previous acquaintances had felt comfortable enough to come forward to the police, Brisman might still be alive.

Additionally, Davis said, "You could change the age restrictions if it was legal. Make it 21, like the drinking age. And prosecute anyone forcing a woman into prostitution or drugging girls to do it."

Taking away prostitution's criminal status would also give women who want to get out of the business "a better chance to find a job," she said. "Legalization affords women more rights. . . It's hard to get a job once you have a prostitution conviction. The woman becomes unemployable."

Davis said that health-care reform probably has to be done on the federal level, "but my mother worked for Cigna Health Care for 30 years. I know how they rig the system for their gains."

In other areas of concern to voters, Davis is for school vouchers and better-run schools, saying, "I don't want to see other countries have the technology we're not investing in." She's also for abortion rights and against having a civilian trial for a terrorist in New York.

"Why should a terrorist be given more rights than I was?" she asked.

Davis needs 15,000 signatures in New York to get on the ballot but her goal is 45,000. She hopes that voters will look beyond her past and judge her based on her positions and accomplishments.

Beyond that she hopes to be a voice for her causes and the citizens of New York.

"I want to be a force for reform," she said, "and I can ask real questions.

"Everything's already been said about me. I don't have anything to lose."