The 2013 election for New York City Comptroller was held on November 5, 2013, along with elections for Mayor, Public Advocate, Borough Presidents, and members of the New York City Council.

The first-term incumbent Comptroller, John Liu, did not run for re-election, as he decided to run in the 2013 election for Mayor of New York City. The Democratic Party nomination was won by Scott Stringer, who defeated former Governor Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace in 2008. John Burnett was the Republican nominee.

On Election Day, Stringer handily defeated Burnett and various third-party candidates, winning 80.4% of the vote.

New York City borough President Scott Stringer was considered to be the front runner for the Democratic nomination, having raised nearly $3.5 million as of July 7, 2013. When former New York governor Eliot Spitzer announced his intention to run for the office, he brought a larger challenge to Stringer. In 2008, while governor, Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. His name recognition as a former governor was expected to help him in the election, while the scandal was expected to harm his chances. "I'm hopeful there will be forgiveness, I am asking for it," Spitzer said, commenting on the scandal. "Politics is a contact sport," Spitzer said on July 8, on radio's The Bill Press Show. "I made significant errors. I stood up, accepted responsibility, resigned. It's now been five years, I hope the public will extend its forgiveness to me."

Coincidentally, Spitzer was running against Kristin M. Davis (who was running as a Libertarian), his former madam who had helped him get call girls as governor. She spent three months in prison for running an escort service. "This is going to be the funnest campaign ever," she told The New York Daily News. "I’ve been waiting for my day to face [Spitzer] for five years," Davis said. "I sat ... in Rikers Island, I came out penniless and nothing happened to him. The hypocrisy there is huge."

Stringer's campaign immediately responded to Spitzer's candidacy. On July 8, his campaign manager released a statement saying, "Scott Stringer has a proven record of results and integrity and entered this race to help New York's middle class regain its footing. By contrast, Eliot Spitzer is going to spurn the campaign finance program to try and buy personal redemption with his family fortune. The voters will decide." The statement alluded to Spitzer's family fortune. Prior to Spitzer's announcement, Stringer had already received several endorsements from candidates in the mayoral election, most of whom did not withdraw their endorsements after Spitzer's announcement. One of the first to publicly state her support of Stringer was Christine Quinn, who is the Speaker of the New York City Council. She stated, "Scott Stringer has been an exceptional borough president with the highest ethical standards. He has my full support and I will do whatever I can to help him become the next comptroller of the City of New York."

Spitzer appeared on CNBC's Morning Joe on July 9, and was visibly emotional when asked about what he had learned the past five years.

Stringer's fundraising soared dramatically after Spitzer's announcement. During the week of July 8, Stringer raised over $100,000. In all, Stringer had spent just over $679,000 and had $3 million on hand. Spitzer declared that he could use his family fortune to finance his campaign. Although he hired staffers to collect petitions, Spitzer's campaign did not list any major spending during the then most recent filing period.