Could Spitzer Tap Cuomo To Succeed Clinton?

By JACOB GERSHMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun
September 19, 2007

As Senator Clinton sustains her lead in the presidential polls, a guessing game is spreading around New York politics over whom Governor Spitzer would choose to fill her seat in the event that she's elected to the White House.

While conventional speculation has centered on Lieutenant Governor David Paterson and Rep. Nita Lowey as plausible successors to Mrs. Clinton, the newest name popping up in conversations among local elected officials is that of one of the governor's chief political rivals, Attorney General Cuomo.

At first blush, Mr. Cuomo, who has quickly made a mark as an investigator of public corruption and consumer fraud, would seem to be an unlikely presence on Mr. Spitzer's short list.

Tensions between the two politicians go back years. Mr. Cuomo's investigation into the Spitzer administration's scheme to discredit Republican Senate leader, Joseph Bruno, which ignited two additional probes, has pulled the two offices even further apart.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cuomo is demanding greater investigative powers to crack down on public corruption, a signal that he plans to keep close tabs on the activities of the governor's office.

The common view in Albany and in the Spitzer administration is that Mr. Cuomo is keeping his options open for 2010 and would challenge Mr. Spitzer in a Democratic primary if he thought he could win.

If Mr. Spitzer wants to defuse the political threat, appointing Mr. Cuomo to fill the Senate seat and directing his ambitions to Washington could make that happen, elected officials say.

"That would be a possibility. Everything is open here," a senior Democrat in the Assembly said. Mr. Spitzer could get Mr. Cuomo "out of his life and stop him from breathing down his neck," another Democratic assemblyman said.

The strategy has its risks. The term of a replacement senator would end in January 2011. As a senator, Mr. Cuomo could choose to opt to run for governor anyway in 2010. Mr. Cuomo, of course, may not want the job.

The governor hasn't tipped his hand, and the most plausible candidates have yet to publicly indicate an interest in the job.

Fresh memories of Mr. Spitzer bitterly complaining about the qualifications of Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the Legislature's choice to replace Alan Hevesi, place greater pressure on the governor to choose someone based on merit rather than on political considerations.

That the person would be standing in the shadow of Mrs. Clinton and a deceased Democratic senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, adds another layer of scrutiny on the governor. The governor will also be encouraged to pick a person with an established fund-raising base who could swiftly take the reins from Mrs. Clinton and lay the groundwork for what would likely be a grueling campaign in 2010.

In New York political circles, the two most frequently cited possibilities are Ms. Lowey, a 70-year-old Democrat of Westchester and Rockland counties, and Mr. Paterson, a former Democratic minority leader of the Senate of Harlem whom Mr. Spitzer tapped as his running mate last year.

By appointing Ms. Lowey, who has a strong suburban base of support in important electoral turf, Mr. Spitzer would ensure another woman held a statewide office.

As chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on state and foreign operations, Ms. Lowey has more foreign policy experience than many other potential contenders for the job.

Political observers also point out that Ms. Lowey considered running for Moynihan's seat in the 2000 race before stepping aside when Mrs. Clinton made known her political intentions.

Mr. Paterson, who is partially blind, would be the first African-American U.S. senator of New York. Selecting him could offer the governor a chance to smooth over his relationship with Harlem political leaders, who have been some of the governor's harshest critics.

On many issues, with school choice standing as an exception, Mr. Paterson is to the left of Mr. Spitzer. As lieutenant governor, he has been most active in promoting state funding of stem cell research, but has generally played a limited role in the Spitzer administration.

"The most important factor is that the governor's choice be perceived as the most qualified person interested in the job," a Democratic political consultant, Ryan Karben, said. "If that person is Andrew Cuomo, then it works."

Could Spitzer Tap Cuomo To Succeed Clinton?

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