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       David Paterson

1st Black Governor Installed In N.Y.

Taylor Media Services

  It’s official. Last week’s resignation of scandal plagued New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has given the empire state its first Black governor. Lieutenant Governor David Paterson was sworn into office Monday after Spitzer resigned under pressure when it was learned that he had used the services of a prostitution ring which had come under federal investigation.
     Meanwhile, the 53-year-old Paterson is also legally blind with only partial sight in his right eye. He first became an elected official in 1985 when he began representing Harlem in the New York State Senate. Both Paterson and Spitzer are Democrats. But Paterson is not expected to follow the hard-line “law and order” policies of Spitzer. Paterson has a wife and two children.
      During a news conference last week, Paterson pledged to continue with many of Spitzer’s programs but said he would seek to govern through “consensus.”

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Posted March 19, 2008