ALBANY, NEW YORK— Governor Patterson has recently dropped out of the gubernatorial race for New York State because of all the controversy and scandal currently surrounding him. One of which accuses him of not only being ethically unsound for accepting tickets to a baseball game, but lying about it. The other accuses him of using his power to intimidate a woman into not testifying against one of his aides.

Last fall, Governor David Paterson was investigated by the State Commission on Public Integrity because he accepted tickets to Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. It has recently been revealed that he lied to the Commission while under oath to tell the truth. The panel states that he backdated a check, or had someone backdate a check to prove that he intended to pay for the tickets. If Paterson is proven to have accepted the tickets as a gift, he could face up to an $80,000 fine for violating the state gift ban for elected officials as well as an additional $10,000 fine for using his position for unearned privileges. If Paterson is proven guilty of lying to the Commission he could be prosecuted by Andrew Cuomo, the Democrat favorite for governor candidacy as well as New York’s Attorney General, whose own father was one of New York’s most beloved governors. The Governor’s Office recently released a statement saying, “Governor Paterson maintains his innocence and intends to challenge the findings of the commission both with respect to the law and the facts. The governor takes this matter very seriously and intends to fully cooperate with any further inquiries or investigations, but believes the commission has acted unfairly in this matter.”


Just four days after the Yankees game, David Johnson, one of the office’s aides and Paterson’s personal friend, was accused by his girlfriend, Sherruna Booker, of domestic violence. There have been recent reports of Governor Paterson personally speaking to Booker as well as possibly pressuring the state police to influence her decision to prosecute against Johnson. Paterson was recently quoted saying, “I have never abused my office—not now, not ever.” The superintendant of the State Police, Harry J. Corbitt recently resigned because of the scandal and also admitted that a member of the Governor’s security detail reached out to Booker.


According to the Wall Street Journal, Governor Paterson is now being pushed by the Democratic Party to resign from the remaining 10 months of his term and hand it over to Richard Ravitch, lieutenant governor that Paterson himself handpicked. Paterson was recently quoted saying, “It has become increasingly clear to me in the last few days that I cannot run for office and try to manage the state’s business at the same time.”