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Spitzer Resigns Over ScandalPOSTED on March 12, 2008 NEW YORK - There will be no happy ending for Elliot Spitzer. The Governor of New York announced his resignation effective Monday over a huge scandal that arose this weekend about his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring. The story first broke Monday on the New York Times website that Spitzer had been a client of a call-girl ring called the Emperor's Club that authorities busted last week. Spitzer was caught in a wiretap negotiating a session with an escort who visited him at the Hotel Mayflower in Washington D.C. on February 13. Spitzer reportedly paid $4,300 to be with the young woman named Kristen. He also paid for her train tickets from NYC. More reports surfaced that Spitzer had been seeing escorts for up to six years and paid $80,000 or more in cash. The news shocked the entire state since Spitzer was known for his aggressive prosecution of crimes while serving as NY's Attorney General before becoming the Governor. The controversy and seriousness of the matter forced Spitzer to leave his office after just over one year. Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, who is legally blind, will take over the state on Monday. In 1985 David Paterson was elected to represent Harlem in the New York State Senate. And in 2002, he became the minority leader of the New York State Senate, the first non-white legislative leader in New York's history. He made history again in 2004 when he became the first visually impaired person to address the Democratic National Convention in Boston Massachusetts. And in 2006 Mr. Paterson was elected New York's first African-American Lieutenant Governor. |