Paterson To Ascend To Power In Midst Of Storm

With the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, David A. Paterson, the calm and affable legislative leader turned lieutenant governor, is set to ascend New York’s highest office in the midst of a political storm.

Mr. Paterson, 53, is scheduled to become the state’s 55th governor on Monday. He will be the state’s first black governor, and the third black governor of any state since Reconstruction.

As news of Mr. Spitzer’s impending departure spread Wednesday morning, Mr. Paterson’s staff grappled with the need to plan a transition at a time the state faces a $4.4 billion deficit. Mr. Paterson himself has begun to reach out to the state’s senior Democrats, including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Congressman Charles B. Rangel, a fellow Harlem Democrat with long ties to Mr. Paterson’s family.

Read more: The New York Times