David Paterson, 53, now is the Lieutenant Governor of New York State. When Eliot Spitzer's resignation over his sex scandal becomes effective on Monday March 17, David Paterson will succeed Spitzer as the 55th governor of New York State. . He will be the state’s first black (African-American ) governor.
David Paterson's brief biography from NYT
Born in Brooklyn on May 20, 1954, he was raised in a powerful Harlem political fraternity that would become known as the Gang of Four. It included his father, Basil, a former state senator who later served as deputy mayor and New York’s secretary of state; Percy E. Sutton, the former Manhattan borough president; Representative Rangel; and David N. Dinkins, the city’s first black mayor.
An early childhood infection left him with severely limited sight. Because New York City could not guarantee him an education without placing him in special education classes, his parents bought a house in Hempstead and he attended school there. He went on to graduate from Columbia University and Hofstra Law School. Mr. Paterson, who has completed the New York Marathon, is now an adjunct professor at Columbia.
He and his wife, the former Michelle Paige, have a son, Alex, 13, and Mrs. Paterson has a daughter, Ashley, 19, from a previous marriage.