Spitz Quits, Paterson's In

Scandal-hit NY governor resigns

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has resigned, after being linked to a prostitution ring.
Flanked by his wife Silda, Mr Spitzer, a leading Democrat, told a news conference: "I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work."

He once again apologised for failing to live up to the standards he demanded of others - but he gave no details.

Mr Spitzer had allegedly been identified arranging to meet a prostitute in a Washington hotel.

Mr Spitzer made his name as an investigator of organised crime, financial crime and prostitution.

At one point he was known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street", and his fall from political grace is being seen as one of the biggest New York has known.

In a brief resignation statement, he said: "Over the course of my public life I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct.

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He spent $80Gs over a course of 10 years and may have placed his affairs on taxpayers' tabs. SMH.



Lt. Gov. David Paterson Becomes First Black Governor of New York (and the first legally blind governor in the nation)

New York Lieutenant Governor David Paterson becomes the first Black governor of New York after Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday.

Paterson will assume the position on Mar. 17 and will remain governor until the special election in Nov. 2010.

Paterson is also legally blind, which would make him the first blind governor in the country and only the fourth African-American to run a state in US history.

Paterson was elected to the state Senate in 1985, representing the 29th District in the New York State Senate that included Manhattan's Harlem and Upper West Side. He then rose to become New York's highest-ranking black legislator.

Paterson is the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson, who the first African American NYC Deputy Mayor, the first to run for statewide office in New York, and the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 1970.

The younger Paterson gained the post of Senate minority leader in 2002. In 2004, he became the first blind person to address the Democratic National Convention.

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