Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959 in Bronx, New York) is the current Attorney General for New York State and a candidate for the 2006 Democratic nomination for Governor of New York.

Campaign for Governor of New York

For more details on this topic, see New York gubernatorial election, 2006.

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On December 7, 2004, Spitzer announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the 2006 election for Governor of New York. While long rumored, Spitzer's announcement was nevertheless considered unusually early -- over two years before the actual gubernatorial election is slated to place. Political analysts believe the announcement's timing is due to Spitzer's desire to dissuade fellow Democrats Andrew Cuomo and Charles Schumer from entering the race and forcing a primary election. Had this indeed been his intent, Spitzer succeeded: Schumer announced he would maintain his Senate seat, while Cuomo announced his intent to run for Spitzer's vacated Attorney General's seat.

Related Topics:
December 7 - 2004 - 2006 election - Governor of New York - Andrew Cuomo - Charles Schumer - Primary election

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Spitzer won an early vote of confidence in January 22, 2005 by winning the endorsement of the Working Families Party, that has taken advantage of New York's electoral fusion system to act as a kingmaker over Democratic nominees. It is backed heavily by figures from community group ACORN and labor unions, particularly those that broke from the AFL-CIO to form the Change To Win Coalition. In the months after the WFP endorsement, several Change to Win unions have announced endorsed Spitzer under their own name, including UNITE HERE, the Teamsters, and the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Related Topics:
January 22 - 2005 - Working Families Party - Electoral fusion - ACORN - Labor unions - AFL-CIO - Change To Win Coalition - UNITE HERE - Teamsters - United Food and Commercial Workers

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In the latter half of 2005, Spitzer sought to further solidify support for his campaign by touring several parts of the state, seeking and giving political endorsements. These included cross endorsements with former-Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer in the New York City Mayoral election, and State Senator Byron Brown in the Buffalo Mayoral election. The benefit to Spitzer in these endorsement deals is valuable media attention as he stumped for the candidates.

Related Topics:
Fernando Ferrer - New York City Mayoral election - Byron Brown - Buffalo

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As a result of Spitzer's relative speed in uniting state Democrats to his side, he has gained a respect of Democratic leaders nationwide. Bill Richardson dubbed Spitzer the "future of the Democratic Party," at a fundraiser held in June 2005 for Spitzer's gubernatorial campaign http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/14376.html.

Related Topics:
Bill Richardson - June 2005

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Lacking a credible opponent for a Democratic primary, much of the attention for watchers of New York politics turned to the state Republican Party, especially future of three-term governor George Pataki. Polling throughout 2004 and into 2005 consistently showed Spitzer defeating three-term incumbent Republican Governor George Pataki in theoretical matchups. Such a scenario may have proved unappealing to Pataki, as he is rumored to be seeking the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2008. Whether or not these rumors are true, Pataki finally announced that he would not seek re-election and would step down at the end of his term in January of 2007.

Related Topics:
2004 - 2005 - George Pataki - January

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The open-seat nature of the election, along with Spitzer's positive poll numbers, has fueled discussion of the Republican leadership's active pursuit of candidates to run against Spitzer. Thus far, only two persons have announced their intent to run for the nomination: New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and former Massachusetts Governor (now New York resident and businessman) William Weld.

Related Topics:
Randy Daniels - William Weld

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An additional consideration for Spitzer is the status of billionaire Tom Golisano, a three-time candidate on the Independence Party line. It is rumored that Golisano may run again, and that Republican Party insiders may seek to nominate him on their own party's line, thus fusing the Republican and Independence tickets for the first time in a gubernatorial election. As yet, Golisano has not made his intentions for 2006 known.

Related Topics:
Tom Golisano - Independence Party

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Future tasks for the Spitzer campaign include his choice of a Lieutenant Governor as a running mate. In New York gubernatorial elections, the most important factor in the gubernatorial candidate's choice of a Lieutenant Governor is the need to "balance the ticket" -- that is, to widen the candidate's appeal, whether by reaching out to someone from a different geographic area, ethnic background, or has a different political base. As Spitzer is widely viewed as a New York City-based politician, it is believed that he is seeking to recruit an upstate or Long Island-based political figure for Lieutenant Governor.

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At present, Spitzer holds a comfortable lead in polls of possible scenarios for the 2006 general election. According to an August 26 Rasmussen Reports poll of likely voters, Spitzer holds a 52% to 23% lead against Golisano, and a 55% - 20% lead against Weld. As can be ascertained by the numbers, a sizable portion of voters remains undecided in the early going of the campaign.

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