68 Facts About David Paterson

David Alexander Paterson was born on May 20,1954 and is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010.

David Paterson was selected to be the running mate of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Eliot Spitzer in the 2006 New York gubernatorial election.

David Paterson held the office of governor during the Great Recession, and he implemented state budget cuts.

David Paterson made two significant appointments: In January 2009, he appointed then-US representative Kirsten Gillibrand to a vacant US Senate seat, and in July 2009, he appointed Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor.

David Paterson launched a campaign for a full term as governor in the 2010 New York gubernatorial election, but announced on February 26,2010, that he would bow out of the race.

Since leaving office, David Paterson has been a radio talk show host and chairman of the New York Democratic Party from May 2014 to November 2015.

At the age of three months, David Paterson contracted an ear infection that spread to his optic nerve, leaving him sightless in his left eye and with severely limited vision in his right.

David Paterson was the first student with a disability in the Hempstead public schools, graduating from Hempstead High School in 1971.

David Paterson earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1977 and a Juris Doctor from Hofstra Law School in 1983.

David Paterson claimed that his failing the New York bar was partially the result of insufficient accommodation for his visual impairment, and has since advocated for changes in bar exam procedures.

At the time, the 29th Senate district covered the Manhattan neighborhoods of Harlem, Manhattan Valley and the Upper West Side, the same district that David Paterson's father had represented.

David Paterson was re-elected ten times, and remained in the state senate until 2006, sitting in the 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 193rd, 194th, 195th, and 196th New York State Legislatures.

David Paterson was elected Minority Leader by the Senate Democratic Conference on November 20,2002, becoming both the first non-white state legislative leader and the highest-ranking black elected official in the history of New York.

David Paterson became known for his consensus-building style and sharp political skills.

In 2006, David Paterson was selected by New York attorney general and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer as his running mate.

David Paterson traded the possibility of becoming Senate majority leader for the opportunity to hold the largely ceremonial lieutenant governor post.

In late December 2006, shortly before being sworn in as lieutenant governor, Paterson said that if he ever succeeded Spitzer as governor, he and Nelson A Rockefeller would have something besides the governorship in common: great difficulty in reading.

Rockefeller was dyslexic, and David Paterson compared this to his own blindness.

David Paterson took office as lieutenant governor on January 1,2007.

In September 2007, David Paterson weighed in on a proposal before the New York City Council to extend voting rights to noncitizens.

David Paterson told a crowd gathered at the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade that he believed noncitizens should be granted voting rights.

David Paterson stressed he was asking for a change in policy, rather than a new law, citing that although 22 states and territories between 1776 and 1920 allowed the practice, none do now.

David Paterson had tried to introduce legislation granting voting rights to noncitizens as a State Senator fifteen years earlier.

On July 17,2008, David Paterson was the keynote speaker addressing the 99th annual convention of the NAACP in Cincinnati, Ohio.

David Paterson ascended to the governor's office during the busiest legislative period of the year.

David Paterson stated in his inauguration speech that it would be his top priority.

David Paterson made reference in his speech to the economic woes being faced in the United States, calling them a "crisis", and promised to "adjust the budget accordingly".

Since 1984, New York State has only passed a budget on time once, in 2005, leading David Paterson to call for an "end to the dysfunction in Albany" in his speech, echoing a 56-page study from the nonpartisan New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice, which referred to the legislature as "the least deliberative and most dysfunctional in the nation".

David Paterson appointed Christopher O Ward to be executive director of the Port Authority on May 22,2008.

In May 2008, David Paterson informed New York State agencies that they were required to recognize same-sex marriage licenses from other jurisdictions for purposes of employee benefits.

David Paterson reportedly described same-sex marriage as "beautiful," and contended that his decision was "the right thing to do"; the governor was enthusiastically cheered when he attended the 2008 gay pride parade in Manhattan.

On September 2,2008, Justice Lucy A Billings of the State Supreme Court in the Bronx issued a decision that Paterson acted within his powers when he required state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages from outside New York State.

David Paterson later tapped former Senate Majority Leader and former political foe Joseph Bruno to support same-sex marriage in Albany.

In late 2010, before the January 2011 expiration of his term as governor, David Paterson reached out to members of the New York State Senate in an attempt to gauge support for the passage of same-sex marriage legislation during a lame-duck session of the Legislature; however, the governor came to the conclusion that passage of the bill during the lame-duck session was not feasible.

In March 2008, David Paterson warned that New York state faced its worst fiscal crisis since 2001.

David Paterson warned that the budget deficit was estimated to grow 22 percent by 2011.

David Paterson hit the cable networks early and was quoted by media around the world.

David Paterson revised Spitzer's record-size executive budget proposal to cut spending.

David Paterson called the 2008 budget proposal "too big and too bloated", and he said he would work to convince the legislature to stop what he saw as unsustainable growth.

David Paterson proposed to close the 81-year-old Reynolds Game Farm, in Tompkins county, the state's only remaining pheasant facility, but changed course following criticism from sportsmen's groups.

David Paterson acknowledged on January 20,2009, that Cuomo was indeed under consideration for the appointment.

David Paterson later admitted that he personally ordered his staff to contest Caroline Kennedy's version of events in the hours after she withdrew from consideration to be United States senator.

In January 2010, David Paterson awarded a contract to operate a 4,500 slot machine racino at the Aqueduct Race Track to Aqueduct Race Track Entertainment Group in Queens.

Fisch criticized David Paterson for delegating the process to his aides, who Fisch said did not keep him properly informed.

On March 9,2010, David Paterson recused himself from the case, saying he was doing so on the advice of his lawyers.

David Paterson was said to have asked the woman if she needed any help a day before the case was dropped.

On February 26,2010, David Paterson withdrew his bid for a full term as governor of New York.

In March 2010, the New York State Commission on Public Integrity asked Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate allegations that David Paterson had solicited an unlawful gift of free New York Yankees tickets.

David Paterson faced allegations that he had lied under oath to the Commission on Public Integrity in 2010 during an investigation about the Yankees tickets.

David Paterson was not criminally charged in connection with his witness interaction in the Johnson domestic abuse matter.

On December 20,2010, the Commission on Public Integrity found that David Paterson had lied about accepting five free World Series tickets and fined him $62,125.

In October 2008, David Paterson launched a campaign website and announced his intention to run for a full term as governor.

David Paterson added that President Barack Obama would be the next African-American elected official to suffer from poor approval due to his skin color.

On September 19,2009, David Paterson insisted he was still running.

David Paterson reiterated his position on February 9,2010, saying, "[The] only way I'm not going to be governor next year is at the ballot box and the only way I'll be leaving office before is in a box".

On February 26,2010 David Paterson withdrew his bid for a full term as governor of New York "amid crumbling support from his party and an uproar over his administration's intervention in a domestic violence case involving a close aide".

On September 1,2011, the station announced that David Paterson would become the regular weekday afternoon drive-time host beginning on September 6.

In December 2012, David Paterson was let go from his radio show at WOR after Clear Channel purchased the station.

In July 2013, David Paterson said that he might run for Congress if US Rep.

In December 2013 David Paterson stated that he had "no intention of running for Congress in the 13th District, either now or in the future".

David Paterson was appointed in 2013 to be a distinguished professor of health care and public policy, at Touro College, in Harlem, and to advise the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine on public policy issues.

In early 2014, David Paterson unveiled his portrait that hangs in the Hall of Governors in the New York State Capitol.

On October 7,2015, David Paterson announced that he would leave that position following the November elections.

David Paterson oversaw victories in the 2014 state election where Democrats held the Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller positions.

David Paterson endorsed Kathy Hochul in the 2022 New York gubernatorial election.

David Paterson reportedly dated a member of his staff, Pamela Bane, from 2012 to 2014.

David Paterson then began to date Mary Galda, former wife of Curtis Sliwa.

David Paterson got engaged to Galda in 2019, and they were married on August 10,2019, at the Water Club on the East River.