ALBANY POSTS

Re-election Bid

Less than a week after the launch of his bid for re-election, Governor Paterson shut down his campaign in response to a series of stories in the New York Times alleging Paterson had improperly intervened in a domesticabuse charge levied against an aide.

“It has become increasingly clear to me in the last few days that I cannot run for office and try to manage the state’s business at the same time,” said Governor Paterson last week.

On Tuesday, Jay Jacobs, the state chairman of the Democratic party, met with Paterson, urging him to resign and transfer power to lieutenant governor Richard Ravitch, whom Paterson appointed last year.

Paterson’s senior administrative aide, David Johnson, was accused of assaulting a woman at her Bronx apartment on October 31, 2009. The woman since dropped her case against Johnson after speaking with Governor Paterson. Reports have been dribbling out that Paterson used administrative staff to reach out to the woman in advance of a family-court hearing in February. No one has determined how much Paterson knew about the allegations against his aide.

Though Democrats are urging Governor Paterson to step down, a poll released by Marist College this week shows that 66 percent of New Yorkers wish the governor to finish his term, while 28 percent would like to see him resign.

Paterson’s run as governor has been defined by scandal. He ascended to the post when Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught in a tryst with a prostitute. But almost immediately upon taking New York’s top office, Paterson and his wife both admitted to having extra marital affairs of their own.

As governor, Paterson’s term has been rocked by the financial crisis. Because nearly 20 percent of the state’s budget can be traced to revenues generated by the financial industry, Paterson has proposed sweeping cuts in budget spending while approving several tax increases, including the controversial MTA mobility payroll tax. To prevent New York from becoming insolvent, Paterson has delayed, and then cut, state aid to local school districts. Rather than re-organizing Albany’s bureaucracy, Paterson proposed across-the-board cuts of 10 and 15 percent.

His budget-cutting proposals have won so little support among his own party that Paterson recently joked about switching parties. Democratic legislators have found the cuts so unappealing they have asked Paterson to turn over budget negotiations to Ravitch, even if Paterson remains in office until January.

Paterson’s undoing may reflect the anxiety of Democrats nationwide. While Democrats continue to build a lead in the number of registered party members in New York State, an antiincumbent backlash has benefitted Republicans in key swing districts.

A weakened governor or prolonged gubernatorial primary would have further weakened Democratic prospects to retain control of the New York Senate and the House of Representatives in Washington.

Cuomo Won’t Join

the Fray Yet

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo won’t announce his 2010 plans anytime soon. New York’s chief lawyer is too busy investigating his rivals Governor Paterson and Majority Leader Pedro Espada (D-Bronx) to announce his long-rumored campaign to become governor.

Cuomo, the elder son of former New York governor Mario Cuomo, is the primary beneficiary of Paterson’s swift fall. Previously, Andrew Cuomo has served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in President Bill Clinton’s administration. He was elected New York’s Attorney General in 2006.

Cuomo’s office has jurisdiction to investigate whether the governor and state police intervened in the domestic abuse charges levied against Paterson aide David Johnson.

Though many Democrats are asking Cuomo to step into the arena against presumptive Republican candidate Rick Lazio, Cuomo’s office confirmed to the media that the Attorney General would wrap up his investigations in the next two months before his announcement.

By keeping out of the governor’s race until then, Cuomo may avoid speaking out on controversial issues in New York State’s budget. Lazio has demanded that Cuomo “come out of his foxhole” and offer solutions for New York State.

The Budget is

Coming Due

New York State’s budget is coming due in four weeks, and the bickering is only just beginning. After Assembly majority leader Sheldon Silver suggested that in the wake of Paterson’s scandals lieutenant governor Ravitch should handle the budget negotiations, legislators have lashed out.

“The speaker [Sheldon Silver] is not the judge and jury or the decider of who he negotiates the budget with ... Our state constitution determines that,” said State Senator Eric Adams. “Unless he has become the modern-day Napoleon, where he crowns himself, he’s only the speaker. He is not the leader or the king of New York State.”

Paterson has proposed reducing state aid to schools by $1.1 billion, and adding several new taxes on everything from beer and soda to digital music downloads and haircuts. Paterson also proposed new fees for the East River and Harlem River bridges.

New York faces a potential $7.4 billion budget gap and carried over $55 billion in debt.