Quimby has long served as the
mayor of the city of
Springfield. He appears as a slick, opportunistic politician whose chief priorities seem to be keeping himself in office and various other forms of corruption, including
embezzling tax money, taking
bribes from
Fat Tony, and giving monthly
kickbacks to Police
Chief Wiggum. The seal on the wall of his office reads "Corruptus in Extremis", which means "extremely corrupt". He is a
Democrat. Like Kennedy, Quimby is known as a
womanizer, and occasionally amuses himself with
pornographic playing cards during town meetings. Quimby was once the subject of 27 separate
paternity suits. One of the women he impregnated is
Cookie Kwan, whose baby is remarkably similar to Quimby in both looks and mannerisms. Quimby also is frequently noticed in bed with the same or similar blonde woman/women, at least one of whom was
Miss Springfield. He also once accidentally courted his own niece, which is one of the few things Quimby has ever shown shame over. Despite being the mayor for such a long time, Quimby does not know or care much about his city, often privately (or even publicly) showing his outright contempt for Springfield's citizens. He also resorted to bribing witnesses when assault charges were brought against his nephew, leading
Bart Simpson to observe that "the system works: just ask
Claus von Bülow". His
catchphrase is "Vote Quimby", which he always finds an opportunity to say, even in situations where it would be disadvantageous to identify himself, like inadvertently being caught by Homer in a motel room with his
mistress. Quimby was elected Mayor of Springfield in 1986 (three years before the show's debut) and has been re-elected several times since, despite openly admitting to fraud and wrongdoing. In the season 4 episode "
Krusty Gets Kancelled" he admits to using taxpayer dollars to fund the
murder of his enemies, but thanks to a clever use of a popular Gabbo catchphrase ("I'm a bad wittle boy"), he is re-elected in a landslide. , the voice of Quimby. Quimby's political stranglehold on Springfield has earned him the hatred of Springfield's small but vocal
Republican elite, themselves portrayed as mostly dark, ghoulish figures who meet in a castle. When the Republicans nominate
Sideshow Bob as their mayoral candidate, Bob rigs the election, briefly deposing Quimby. He is re-instated when Bob is found guilty of fraud and imprisoned. Later, when Quimby briefly flees the city in the mistaken belief that his corruption is about to be exposed, he is deemed to have "abandoned office" and is replaced by a short-lived "council of learned citizens" headed by
Lisa Simpson,
Professor Frink,
Comic Book Guy,
Lindsey Naegle,
Dr. Hibbert, and
Principal Skinner, the members of the Springfield chapter of
Mensa International, in accordance with the town charter. He also survives a
recall election, with no candidate in the race against him, garnering the five percent necessary to force a recall. ==Reception==