New York Lieutenant Governor David Paterson becomes the first Black governor of New York after Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday.
Paterson will assume the position on Mar. 17 and will remain governor until the special election in Nov. 2010.
Paterson is also legally blind, which would make him the first blind governor in the country and only the fourth African-American to run a state in US history.
Paterson was elected to the state Senate in 1985, representing the 29th District in the New York State Senate that included Manhattan's Harlem and Upper West Side. He then rose to become New York's highest-ranking black legislator.
Paterson is the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson, who the first African American NYC Deputy Mayor, the first to run for statewide office in New York, and the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 1970.
The younger Paterson gained the post of Senate minority leader in 2002. In 2004, he became the first blind person to address the Democratic National Convention.
Gov. Spitzer, a first-time Democrat, announced his resignation Wednesday, two days after announcing that he was involved in a prostitution ring.
Through further research, it was identified that Spitzer was involved in the recent scandal at the Emperor's Club VIP, which had four people arrested last week on charges of prostitution.
According to an affidavit, Spitzer, whom was referred to as "Client No. 9," had a rendezvous on Feb. 13 with a madam named "Kristen" in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
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