Political Career of David Paterson - Senate Minority Leader

Senate Minority Leader

Paterson was elected by the Democratic caucus of the Senate as Minority Leader on November 20, 2002, becoming both the first non-white state legislative leader and the highest-ranking African American elected official in the history of New York State, unseating the incumbent Minority Leader, Martin Connor. Since the Great Depression, only one party caucus leader has been unseated in either legislature; Paterson succeeded without the help of a powerful patron, and owed no debts to other Democratic party leaders. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver sided with Connor, as did Brooklyn party leader Assemblyman Clarence Norman Jr. Paterson's ouster of Connor had been an alliance of Manhattan senators against the Brooklynite Connor's more suburban-friendly politics. His conciliatory withdrawal from the Manhattan borough president race, and his 2001 effort organizing Harlem elected officials to support the mayoral candidacy of Fernando Ferrer earned Paterson support in the Harlem and Manhattan Democratic leadership. "When I went to them and told them I was running for minority leader," Mr. Paterson said of his Harlem elders, "they were not only supportive, they were enthusiastic." David Dinkins telephoned wavering Democratic senators, lobbying them to support Paterson in the contest. Paterson indicated his long-term goals were to increase the number of Democratic Senators and, eventually, win a majority of the Senate.

Paterson became known for his consensus-building style coupled with sharp political skills.

In 2006, Paterson sponsored a controversial bill to limit the use of deadly force by the police, but later changed that position. He also supported non-citizen voting in New York local elections. According to the New York Post, he "chalked up a heavily liberal record."

Describing Paterson's tenure in the senate, The New York Times cited his "wit, flurries of reform proposals and unusual bursts of candor." On March 12, 2008, Melissa Mansfield wrote in Newsday that "many good government groups expect that efforts to clean up Albany would continue" under his governorship, based on his reform record in the legislature, but a legislative opponent, Sen. Dean Skelos, asserted that Paterson "carries an urban agenda against fairness to the suburban communities."

Previously, Paterson had been mentioned as a possible successor to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton should Clinton win the Democratic nomination and also the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Paterson is currently a Democratic party national convention superdelegate and has endorsed Clinton.