Under Fire, Gov. Paterson Drops Election Bid

(Feb. 26) -- Gov. David Paterson of New York dropped his bid for election this afternoon, bowing to political pressure from leading Democrats amid anemic poll numbers and a new investigation into his administration's response to a domestic abuse claim against one of his top aides.

"There are times in politics when you have to know not to strive for service but to step back, and that moment has come for me," Paterson said at a nationally televised news conference in Manhattan, his wife standing by his side.

The embattled governor said he was "being realistic about politics. It hasn't been the latest distraction. It has been an accumulation of obstacles that have obfuscated me from getting my message out to the public."

A growing number of elected Democrats in New York had called on Paterson to end his campaign after The New York Times reported Wednesday that he and the state police interfered with a woman who was accusing a top gubernatorial aide, David Johnson, of assaulting her on Halloween last year.

Those allegations, which led to the resignation of the state's deputy secretary for public safety and Johnson's suspension, were seen as the last political straw for Paterson. Just last week, he had defiantly opened his campaign for a full term despite the widespread assumption that he would lose to popular state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in a Democratic primary.

In announcing that he would not seek a full term, Paterson nonetheless defended himself against the allegations of wrongdoing. "I have never abused my office, not now, not ever," he said. "I believe that when the facts are revealed, the truth will prevail."

The governor also listed a number of accomplishments in his nearly two years in office, including improving conditions for women and minority-owned businesses and ending onerous and outdated drug laws.

Paterson vowed to serve out the remainder of his term this year, despite calls from some officials that he step down immediately. More pressure came soon after his press conference, when the new city comptroller of New York, John Liu, a Democrat, called for his resignation.

Paterson's announcement means that come January, if not before, New York will have its fourth governor in just over four years. Though the election is more than eight months away, it seems likely to be Cuomo, who had been the prohibitive favorite even before Paterson halted his campaign.

Party officials moved swiftly to throw their support to the attorney general. Shortly after Paterson's announcement, State Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs stepped to the same podium to endorse Cuomo, who was not present. Paterson offered his rival "assistance," but not a full-throated endorsement.

The allegations against Paterson, and his decision to step aside, mark the latest chapter in a tumultuous period for New York politics, even by the Empire State's standards. Paterson took over the job in March 2008 after Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal.

He became both the state's first black governor and the second legally blind governor in the nation's history. Within days of taking office, the little-known former state senator from Harlem had acknowledged past drug use and extramarital affairs.

Paterson assumed the top job during a fiscal crisis that has not abated, and his poll numbers plummeted as he was forced to push for tax hikes and spending cuts to close a budget gap. His public support dropped further after he bungled the appointment of a replacement for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was appointed secretary of state.

The drawn-out process was marred by leaks and public vacillation by Paterson, who alienated the Kennedy family by shunning Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the slain president. He eventually settled on an upstate politician named Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, but her selection was met with decidedly mixed reviews.

Long since counted out by the establishment and abandoned politically by the White House, Paterson had more recently adopted the attitude of a politician backed into a corner with nothing left to lose.

As rumors swirled about a damaging Times story in the works, Paterson defiantly launched an election campaign that virtually no one thought he would win. "The only way I'm not going to be governor next year is at the ballot box, and the only way that I'll be leaving before is in a box," Paterson declared to reporters only two weeks ago, on Feb. 9.

Waiting in the wings is Cuomo, who has yet to announce his campaign. The son of Mario Cuomo, a three-term governor, Andrew Cuomo resurrected his political career in 2006 after a poorly executed bid for the statehouse four years earlier.