New York Gov. David Paterson will abandon his campaign for election to a full term:

Democratic officials in Washington were informed of Mr. Paterson’s plans early Friday, the Associated Press reported.

The governor has faced intensifying pressure to abandon his campaign, as a senior aide quit his administration in outrage and the New York political world responded with disgust to allegations the state police and the Democratic governor interfered with a domestic-violence case involving a top aide.

Mr. Paterson’s administration was plunged into disarray late Wednesday after it was reported by the New York Times that the governor and a member of his security detail had conversations with a woman pursing a protection order against a top administration aide, David Johnson, 37 years old, a close friend and adviser to Mr. Paterson.

Just days ago Paterson, a former lieutenant governor who assumed the state’s top job after Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned due to a prostitution scandal in 2008, had announced his intention to run for a full term as governor.

Paterson began his political career after graduating from Hofstra Law School when he went to work in the Queens County District Attorney’s office. He joined the staff of Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins, and was elected to the New York State Senate in 1985, winning the seat once held by his father, former NY Secretary of State Basil Paterson. In 2003, he became Senate Minority Leader and was selected as the running mate by then-NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for the 2006 New York gubernatorial election. Democrats Spitzer and Paterson were elected in November 2006 with 69 percent of the vote, and Paterson was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor January 1, 2007.

When Spitzer resigned in the imbroglio of a sex scandal, Paterson was sworn in as New York’s governor March 17, 2008. As Governor of New York, Paterson has received the lower approval ratings of any New York State governor, and he has been a controversial figure from the beginning. Just one day after his inauguration, both Paterson and his wife acknowledged having had extramarital affairs, one with a state employee.

As governor, Paterson has struggled with his state’s financial crisis. For the 2008-09 fiscal year, he tried to get New York’s record spending under control through budget cuts, but the state legislature only allowed a 6 percent spending reduction. Facing a budget deficit of $15 billion and state debt near $55 billion, Paterson’s 2009-10 budget recommended decreasing state school aid by $1.1 billion and the imposition of a number of new taxes and fees on everything from non-diet soft drinks to haircuts. The unpopular new taxes are one of the major reasons his approval numbers have suffered.

Despite the low approval ratings for Paterson, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who was widely expected to challenge the governor in the Democrat gubernatorial primary, will now find his path to the governor’s mansion somewhat easier to travel. Cuomo will likely face former U.S. Congressman Rick Lazio in the general election.

- JP

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