New York will get its first African-American governor after Eliot Spitzer put in his papers in the wake of a high profile sex scandal. David A Paterson, a State legislator for 22 years, who is also legally blind, will take the oath on Monday.

A lawyer by training, Paterson became a public servant in 1985, when he began representing Harlem in the New York State Senate, according to the New York governor’s website.

Always the first

In 2002, he became its minority leader, the first non-white legislative leader in New York’s history. In 2004, he became the first legally blind person to address the Democratic National Convention.

Meanwhile, after his resignation, Spitzer said he will leave politics and concentrate on healing himself and his family. “Over the course of my public life, I have insisted that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct,” he said. “I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor,” he explained.

Criminal charges

He did respond to questions from reporters about criminal charges he might face for moving money around his accounts in a way that could have violated the law.

Spitzer was exposed by law enforcement agencies for spending time with a 1000-dollar-per-hour prostitute. Media reports say he had been patronising prostitutes for years and by some estimates, had paid 80,000 dollars for sex. Spitzer is a father of three. 

Paterson lives in Harlem with his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, and their two children. Paterson, who ran the New York City marathon in 1999, also is a member of the board of the Achilles Track Club. Paterson was born in Brooklyn to Portia and Basil Paterson.

His father was the first non-white secretary of state of New York and the first African-American vice-chair of the national Democratic Party.