Governor David Paterson of New York, who succeeded disgraced Governor Eliot Spitzer a little over a year ago after Spitzer was connected to a call girl scandal, has totally collapsed in public opinion in the past few months, ever since his poor handling of the issue of who should be the successor to Senator Hillary Clinton, particularly his lack of care in dealing with a possible candidacy of Caroline Kennedy. His selection of Kirsten Gillibrand is not inspiring, and she faces a likely primary challenge from any of three former colleagues in the House of Representatives.
Recent polls indicate that most New Yorkers would actually rather have Spitzer back in place of Paterson, despite the scandal, an amazing comedown for Paterson.Â
Additionally, a recent poll shows that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has made quite a record of leadership and reform in the past few years, leads Paterson by 62 percent to 17 percent and has support from every demographic group including African Americans (by a total of 22 percent)! These are amazing statistics and show that Paterson basically would need a miraculous recovery in the next year before the primary, an event highly unlikely.
Cuomo also leads Rudy Guiliani by six points in the poll, and no matter who else might run for the GOP nomination, New York is a strong Democratic state, so it is likely that the Democratic nominee will win the gubernatorial race by a large margin. Right now, the betting money would be that Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Governor Mario Cuomo, will be the next Governor of New York!