NEW YORK’S governor, David Paterson, will not seek re-election in November, succumbing to pressure from top Democrats to withdraw amid revelations that his administration had intervened in a domestic violence case against one of his closest aides.
Mr Paterson’s term as New York’s first black governor will end as it began: with a scandal. He took office two years ago when his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, resigned after it was revealed he had met a prostitute in a Washington hotel. Mr Paterson shocked the state by opening his term with a news conference admitting his own marital infidelity. His reputation never recovered.
He has remained deeply unpopular in the state and is widely seen as ineffective, his legislative agenda stalled in the state legislature. In May, a poll showed a majority of New Yorkers would prefer to have Mr Spitzer back despite his sexual misdemeanours.
Amid calls by Democrats for him to withdraw from the race, Mr Paterson remained defiant, boasting of his ability to overcome odds.
But his re-election bid suffered a knock-out blow this week when the New York Times reported that he intervened after David Johnson, a long-time aide, was accused of a violent domestic assault last autumn.
Mr Paterson called the alleged victim a day before she failed to appear in court over the accusation, even though she had pursued the case for months, the paper said. It revealed that a police official on the governor’s security detail visited the woman, and that she had complained of police pressure to drop her case.
Mr Paterson’s withdrawal clears the way for attorney general Andrew Cuomo to run on the Democratic ticket in November.
Meanwhile, White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, who drew fire after an embarrassing security breach allowed party crashers into a state dinner, is leaving her post, the White House said yesterday. Ms Rogers (50) is personally close to the first lady and is part of a group of Chicagoans who came to Washington with President Barack Obama.
Her departure will be among the first from high-profile administration posts since Mr Obama took office in January of last year.