Free Republic

The Nassau County executive, Thomas R. Suozzi, will announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor on Feb. 25, aides to his campaign and his administration said last night. He will face Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has a huge lead in early fund-raising, opinion polls and endorsements. As a moderate from the suburbs, Mr. Suozzi poses a counterpoint to Mr. Spitzer, who is a liberal from the city. Also yesterday, in another contested Democratic race, H. Carl McCall, the former state comptroller and 2002 Democratic nominee for governor, bypassed some better-known candidates in the race to succeed Mr....

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has chosen David A. Paterson, a powerful Harlem state senator, to be his running mate in the 2006 governor's race, advisers to Mr. Spitzer said yesterday. But the selection stunned and angered some influential black Democrats, who had favored another candidate and had not been consulted on the choice. After considering a university president, a Wall Street executive and others to run for lieutenant governor, Mr. Spitzer offered the job a week ago to Mr. Paterson, the Senate minority leader, and Mr. Paterson accepted, the advisers said. The Spitzer camp portrayed the choice as a master...

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer entered 2006 with huge advantages in his race to become the first Democratic governor of New York in 12 years: nearly $18 million on hand, a 70 percent popularity rating, and so much success fighting corporate fraud that he is one of the nation's most powerful prosecutors. Yet for the first time since Mr. Spitzer declared for office a year ago, New York Republican leaders are now expressing hope that they can exploit what they view as a weak spot in the armor: his temperament, or, more precisely, his temper. And, for the first time in...