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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:13.0pt'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Paterson to Drop
Out of Governor Race<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h6 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:14.4pt'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>By<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/danny_hakim/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More Articles by Danny Hakim"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:
none'>Danny Hakim</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>And<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/james_barron/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More Articles by James Barron"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:
none'>James Barron</span></a> New York Times February 26, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></h6>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Gov.<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/david_a_paterson/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More articles about David A. Paterson."><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>David A. Paterson</span></a>, his administration caught
up in a whirlwind of allegations about its intervention in a domestic violence
episode involving a top aide, is set to announce that he is suspending his
election campaign and will not run in November, according to a person told
about the plans.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Mr. Paterson is expected to make the
announcement Friday afternoon. It would end his campaign less than a week after
it officially began, with an angry<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/nyregion/21paterson.html"
title="Times Article About Paterson’s Speech"><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>speech at Hofstra University</span></a><span
class=apple-converted-space> </span>on Long Island.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>As he prepared for the announcement,
some newspaper editorial writers were demanding something more than an end to
his campaign: they were calling for his resignation. That only added to the
increasing sense that it would be nearly impossible for him to run the state
and the campaign with the abuse case in the background.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Still, as recently as Thursday
evening, Mr. Paterson — who was elected lieutenant governor in November
2006 and became governor in March 2008 after<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/eliot_l_spitzer/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More articles about Eliot L. Spitzer."><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>Eliot Spitzer</span></a><span
class=apple-converted-space> </span>resigned amid a prostitution scandal
— had said he would stay in the race.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>But he also said in a brief
appearance on Thursday that he was consulting with other Democrats. And many
had said publicly this week that Mr. Paterson’s chances had been damaged,
perhaps irreparably, by the disclosures that the governor himself had stepped
in on behalf of<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/david_w_johnson_1972/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More articles about David W. Johnson."><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>David W. Johnson</span></a>, 37,<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/nyregion/17aide.html"
title="Times Article about David W. Johnson"><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>a close confidant who rose from being a young intern to
being Mr. Paterson’s driver and scheduler and, later, to a wider role in
Mr. Paterson’s operation</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Last fall Mr. Johnson’s
longtime companion accused him of brutally assaulting her, telling the police
that he had choked her and thrown her against a dresser. She also said that Mr.
Johnson had kept her from calling for help.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Twice, the woman was granted a
temporary order of protection against Mr. Johnson. But she complained in court
that the State Police had pressed her to drop the allegations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Then, on Feb. 7, the day before a
court hearing about a final protective order, Mr. Paterson spoke to her on the
phone. She did not show up for the hearing the next day, and the judge
dismissed the case.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Domestic-violence experts and
advocates said it was inappropriate for the governor, the most powerful state
official and a close friend of Mr. Johnson’s, to have any contact with
the woman. At the same time, questions were emerging about the role of State
Police officials, who had initially described their contact with the woman as
an effort to offer her counseling and let her know of “her
options.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>But on Thursday, two people who had
been briefed on the matter said that the head of the governor’s security
detail, Maj. Charles Day, had contacted her himself. Former and current state
officials said that was a highly unusual move, given that the State Police had
no jurisdiction in the case.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The administration’s handling
of the case will now be investigated by the state’s attorney general,<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/andrew_m_cuomo/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More articles about Andrew M. Cuomo."><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>Andrew M. Cuomo</span></a>, who is himself expected to
join the race for governor this year. Some government-watchdog groups said that
given Mr. Cuomo’s hopes for the future, an independent prosecutor should
be appointed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The political fallout appeared to be
devastating. Even before his speech at Hofstra last week, Mr. Paterson had
resisted pressure from within Democratic circles to stand down in favor of Mr.
Cuomo, whom many Democrats believe would have a better chance of winning in
November.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>When Mr. Paterson announced that he
was a candidate at Hofstra, where he had gone to law school, the man who has
been the state’s top official for 23 months — and had been a state
senator for more than 20 years before that — presented himself as
something of an outsider tilting against special interests in Albany.But
through the day on Thursday, allies had urged Mr. Paterson to rethink his bid
for election. Some said his political standing could not be salvaged. Among
those who said Mr. Paterson should stand down were senior Democratic members of
New York’s Congressional delegation, top Democratic lawmakers in Albany
and a number of black Democratic officials, including some from Harlem, Mr.
Paterson’s home base.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Mayor<span
class=apple-converted-space> </span><a
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/michael_r_bloomberg/index.html?inline=nyt-per"
title="More articles about Michael R. Bloomberg."><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>Michael R. Bloomberg</span></a>, before learning that Mr.
Paterson’s announcement was expected, expressed concern about the turmoil
that the allegations had caused in Albany.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>“I think the whole
thing’s very sad,” the mayor said. “It’s not good for
the state to have a state government that isn’t functioning as well as we
need it to function in these very tough economic times.” Mr. Bloomberg
said he believed that Mr. Paterson had been “right” to turn to Mr.
Cuomo to investigate the way the Paterson administration had handled the
domestic-abuse matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:18.0pt'><span
style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>“How the attorney general is
going to proceed — whether he going to do it himself or have somebody
else — I don’t know,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “I
haven’t talked to him about it, but you know, the governor’s got to
make his own plans.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
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