N.Y. Gov. Paterson won’t run again

NEW YORK (AP) — Less than a week after declaring he would seek a full four-year term, New York Gov. David Paterson abruptly dropped his election bid Friday under pressure from fellow Democrats concerned about his faltering agenda and his handling of a domestic abuse case involving a trusted aide.

Paterson cited a litany of distractions that prompted him to end his campaign, but said he had never abused his office.

“But I am being realistic about politics,” he said. “It hasn’t been the latest distraction. It’s been an accumulation of obstacles that have obfuscated me from bringing my message to the public.”

Paterson insisted that he would not resign and pledged to serve out his term “fighting for the state of New York.”

Paterson became governor in 2008, when former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal. But during his two-year tenure, he seemed to be overwhelmed by one crisis after another: a bungled appointment to an open U.S. Senate seat, a budget standoff with the state Legislature, and, just this week, a damaging New York Times report, which said the governor and a member of his security detail had contacted a woman pressing an abuse charge against a top Paterson aide.

On Friday, he said he would be vindicated by the criminal investigation he called for into his administration’s handling of the matter.

Raising his right hand beside his wife, Michelle, he told a crowded press room: “I give you this personal oath. I have never abused my office. Not now, not ever. I believe that when the facts are reviewed, the truth will prevail.”

Paterson had publicly prided himself on beating the odds, including overcoming blindness to rise through treacherous New York politics. When he formally announced his campaign just six days ago, he vowed “This governor is not going to quit.” But his tenuous party support quickly evaporated.

“He started out as a nice guy with the best wishes from everyone, and it just went downhill,” said Maurice Carroll of the Quinnipiac University poll. “As a personal story, it’s too bad because everyone who ever knew David Paterson liked him.”

Paterson has been weighed down by low approval numbers for months. His support within his own party was dwindling, and his campaign bank account paled in size to those of his rivals.

The city’s leading tabloids called for his resignation in front-page editorials Friday.

“Time to go, Dave,” the New York Post said in its headline. The New York Daily News said that Paterson had “demeaned his high office” and was not trustworthy.

Politicians from both parties praised the governor’s decision, and most Democrats said he should not have to resign.

“I’m sure that he could have continued his campaign, but he did the right thing,” said Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic party chairman. “We will not have a divisive primary at the top of the ticket.”

Paterson’s decision to abandon the race paved the way for state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to make an unimpeded run for the Democratic nomination.

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