Implications of New Governor of New York

Government Eliot Spitzer of New York has resigned (effective March 17) and thus Lieutenant Governor David A. Paterson will become the first African American and blind Governor of the State of New York.

There have only been two Black men to serve as chief executive of a state since the Reconstruction era, Doug Wilder (Virginia 1990-1994) and Deval Patrick (Massachusetts 2006-). Paterson will serve out the remaining two and a half years of Spitzer's term (until January 2011).

Interestingly, although Spitzer was known as an especially pro-LGBT politician, Paterson may be even more supportive.

According to The Agenda, the blog of the Empire State Pride Agenda, which is New York's equivalent to California's Equality California, the statewide LGBT political lobbying organization:

“David Paterson’s leadership is a story of commitment to civil liberties and human rights. He believes in equality and justice for all New Yorkers and has demonstrated this time and time again in both words and actions.

He has been a strong and consistent friend of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community ever since he was elected to public office in 1985. He worked hard as a State Senator to help pass hate crimes legislation in 2000 and, in his first weeks as Senate Minority Leader, worked to make sure that there were enough Democratic votes to pass the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) in 2002.

We are excited to begin working with him as Governor.”

Another interesting aspect of Paterson's elevation to Governor is that State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the main impediement to LGBT legislative process in the state of New York, will be elevated to Lieutenant Governor and there will no longer be a tie-breaking vote in the 62-member body, which currently has 32 Republicans and 30 Democrats. To me this means that until Governor Paterson is able to get a new Lieutenant Governor, the Democrats will need two more seats to obtain an outright majority (i.e. 32 Senators) instead of only one seat, to sieze complete control of the New York State legislative and executive branches.

Interestingly, as Blabbeando notes, if the Democrats to take over control of the New York State Senate in November 2008, the new Senate Majority Leader will be the man who replaced David Paterson as Senate Minority Leader, fellow African American Malcolm A. Smith. Then two out of three legislative branches would be helmed by African Americans.