Paterson will wait to name Hillary Clinton's successor

BY JAMES T. MADORE

10:38 PM EST, December 1, 2008

ALBANY - Gov. David A. Paterson won't appoint a replacement for Hillary Rodham Clinton until she leaves the U.S. Senate, which is unlikely before next month.

"I expect to announce Senator Clinton's replacement when the position becomes officially vacant," he said Monday after she was nominated secretary of state by President-elect Barack Obama.

Clinton aide Philippe Reines said she "intends to remain in office through confirmation" by the Senate.

Secretary of state nominees generally are confirmed after a new president takes office on Jan. 20. President George W. Bush's first secretary, Gen. Colin Powell, received Senate approval hours after the 2001 inauguration. The same held for President Bill Clinton's secretary, Warren Christopher, in 1993.

Paterson declined to discuss the dozen or so potential contenders for Clinton's job, though he agreed with a reporter who said there were advantages to selecting an upstate resident. Paterson also said he would be "consulting with a wide variety of individuals from all across New York State" to identify "the best possible candidate."

The governor put one contender, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, in the hot seat at a news conference about school property taxes.

Asked whether he was considering Suozzi as a Clinton replacement, Paterson turned to the Nassau official and said, "Were you interested in the job?" Suozzi's face turned bright red as he looked down at his shoes but didn't comment.

Suozzi told Newsday later that he took Paterson's question as a joke and wouldn't respond to speculation. "Today is the day to celebrate Hillary Clinton's designation as secretary of state," he said last night.

Another often-mentioned contender for the Senate seat, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester), dropped out Monday, saying she could help New York more by remaining in the House of Representatives where she's a leader on the powerful Appropriations Committee. "She has taken herself out of consideration," said Lowey spokesman Matt Dennis.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg also said he wasn't interested. And Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn) declined to comment on her aspirations.

Whoever Paterson appoints will serve until Jan. 3, 2011, when the winner of a special election in November 2010 takes office to fill out the remaining two years of Clinton's term. A full six-year term will be in the offing for the winner of the 2012 election.

Aides to Paterson have told Newsday he would prefer to appoint a minority to replace Clinton, given the predominance of white men in top federal and state leadership posts. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is the best known on the list of contenders, however, and his appointment would remove a possible challenge to Paterson's election in 2010. In a Marist College poll on Nov. 18, 43 percent of registered voters said Cuomo was the best choice.

A Cuomo spokesman declined to comment Monday night.