Eliot Spitzer

Veteran GOP strategist Roger Stone, who claims to have tipped of FBI agents that former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer “patronized high price prostitutes during trips to Florida,” is expected to outline his role in the Spitzer scandal as the guest speaker at a fundraising for State Sen. Kevin O’Toole, the Essex County GOP Chairman, on April 16 in Cedar Grove. 

David Paterson has been Governor of New York since Monday and voters already like him: he has a 46%-3% approval rating, and 65% of voters already know who he is, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released early this morning. Three-fourths of New York voters (75%) say he will govern effectively and 67% expect that he’ll restore trust in state government. The pollster said that revelations of his extramarital affairs caused voter attitudes about Paterson to shift slightly during the last night of the survey.

“Gov. David Paterson begins with good wishes. By big margins, New Yorkers think he’ll restore public trust – boy, can Albany use that – and be able to govern effectively,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The Star-Ledger won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for its coverage of the resignation of New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey. That puts some pressure on The New York Times to win a Pulitzer for their rather oustanding coverage of the events that led to the end of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's political career.

Eliot Spitzer is just the latest in a long list of political sex scandals that goes back to the Continental Congress. Politicker.com has a list of America’s Top 53 Political Sex Scandals that includes prostitutes, sex with minors, strippers, extramarital affairs, massages, nude swim parties, and even a murder. New Jersey gets three slots on the list.CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE LIST

If you’re interested in learning more about New York’s next Governor, read The New York Observer’s story on David Paterson from February 2006.  And for true political junkies, how’s this for a Loser of the Week nomination: Leecia Eve, who was supposed to be the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2006 – until Eliot Spitzer decided he didn’t want her.

Seen with New York Governor Eliot Spitzer this morning, just prior to his announcement that he will resign on March 17, was criminal defense attorney Ted Wells, a New Jersey resident who has played a key role in state Democratic politics for years. Wells has represented several prominent politicians as they faces legal battles, including U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, and Scooter Libby, Vice President Richard Cheney’s former Chief of Staff.