Is Paterson staying or going?

Matt Stevens

Well, I ended my last post by saying keep an eye on the New York gubernatorial election because there were sure to be interesting twists and turns to it.

The race may be taking one of those interesting turns sooner rather than later.

As I reported in my last post, David Paterson became New York's governor a little less than two years ago, when Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned after it was revealed that, while governor and attorney general, he hired prostitutes.

Yesterday, David Weiner of The Huffington Post reported Paterson may have a sex scandal of his own on his hands.

According to Weiner, the specifics of the rumored scandal are not known. However, he reported that in recent weeks, the governor, who is married and has two children, has supposedly been seen kissing "a woman not his wife." Weiner also reported that Paterson was allegedly caught in a "compromising situation" by a state trooper on his security detail. This incident, according to Weiner, is reportedly why Paterson banned state troopers from the governor's official residence in Albany.

Joe Weisenthal of Business Insider reported that a story about Paterson's alleged extramarital dalliances will run in Wednesday's edition of The New York Times. Weisenthal also wrote that the story did not run in today's edition of the paper because reporters are looking for additional corroboration and to give the governor time to respond to the allegations. Yesterday, Weisenthal reported the story will be so damaging to Paterson that he will follow in the footsteps of his former boss and resign. If this scenario plays out, New York will have had three governors since the January 2007 start of the current gubernatorial term.

Tony Romm of The Hill reported that Paterson met with state Democratic leaders today. According to Romm, the Associated Press reported the meeting attendees discussed with Paterson the possibility of him resigning or staying in office, but dropping his bid for a full term.

Paterson's camp, however, has a different take on the reports of Paterson's actions and future.

According to Weisenthal, the governor's office has admitted an article about Paterson will run in The New York Times sometime in the near future. However, Paterson's staff has denied that the article will contain any damaging information about the governor. They say the article is a profile of Paterson.

Romm reported Richard Fife, a spokesman for Paterson's campaign, said today's meeting between the governor and state Democratic leaders was nothing more than a routine strategy session as Paterson begins to step up his campaign.

A Paterson spokeswoman also denied reports that the governor will resign in the near future, reported WIVB, a Buffalo-area network.

Once again, stay tuned on this one. I'll provide information on the situation as soon as it becomes available.

A Paterson resignation would virtually assure that November will be a coronation for state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Why?

Paterson would obviously be out of the running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. He would be succeeded as governor by Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, who would serve until Jan.1, when the term Spitzer was elected to in 2006 and Paterson has been finishing, expires. Ravitch became lieutenant governor this past summer on an appointment by Paterson. The appointment only became official in September, when the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, upheld Paterson's authority to appoint a lieutenant governor, reported Jeremy Peters and Sewell Chan of The New York Times. (When Paterson vacated the office of lieutenant governor when Spitzer resigned as governor, there was no provision for filling the lieutenant governor's seat until the next election. The state Senate Majority Leader always became acting lieutenant governor when there was a vacancy in the office.) Ravitch said at the time that he would not seek a full term as lieutenant governor, according to Richard D'Errico of The Albany Business Review.

Given this, as well as the fact that he is 76, it is hard to imagine a Gov. Ravitch seeking a full term.

Therefore, there would be a clear path for Cuomo to run for the Democratic nomination for governor as he is expected to. Once nominated, Cuomo's statewide popularity should give him the governor's office.

Which is all the more reason to focus on the current occupant of the mansion on Eagle Street in Albany.