NY Governor Patterson Ends Re-Election Bid

VIA NEWS  ONE:

New York — New York Gov. David Paterson said Friday that he will not seek election to a full term in office.

“There are times in politics when you have to know not to strive for service but to step back,” he said.

He said it was not the “latest distraction but an accumulation” of obstacles that were behind his decision not to be a candidate in the November election.

On Thursday, Paterson denied at a news conference that he would resign and indicated that he would stay in the race.

Hours earlier, New York Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Denise E. O’Donnell abruptly resigned amid a burgeoning scandal over reports that a Paterson aide was involved in domestic violence incident with a woman and that state police later pressured her to keep quiet.

Paterson has suspended the aide, David Johnson, without pay. He also asked New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate the conduct of the state police in the matter.

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