NY gov battles rumors of womanizing and drug use

ALBANY, New York (AP) -- New York Gov. David Paterson, who got the job after his predecessor resigned in a prostitution scandal, is fighting unconfirmed rumors and news reports of womanizing and drug use.

The rumors about Paterson's personal conduct have been circulating in the state capital of Albany -- and sometimes appearing online and in newspaper reports -- at a crucial moment in the Democratic governor's career. His popularity has fallen precipitously, but he has vowed to run for re-election in November despite lack of support from Washington Democrats.

Paterson, New York's first black governor, has cited as fabricated a Jan. 30 New York Post report that he was caught by state police in the governor's mansion cavorting with a woman other than his wife.

He told The Associated Press in an interview on Monday that he has not been involved sexually with another woman since he and his wife separated temporarily more than a decade ago, reiterating an admission he made upon taking office 23 months ago.

The Post has said it stands by its story.

"For the last couple of weeks I have been the subject of what, even by Albany standards, has been a spate of outrageous rumors about me," Paterson told the AP.

While the reports are unconfirmed, they mean fresh trouble to the governor, who had been facing pressure from Washington and within New York to drop out of the election because of his low poll numbers, and concerns from other Democrats that he might hurt their chances in 2010.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, many Democrats' preferred candidate for governor in 2010, refused to comment Tuesday on the unsubstantiated tales.

"We don't comment on rumors," a Cuomo spokesman said. "There are serious problems facing our state and the attorney general is busy doing the job he was elected to do."

Many Democrats have voiced wishes that Cuomo run for governor instead of Paterson, who took the post upon the resignation of Eliot Spitzer amid allegations Spitzer hired a high-priced prostitute from an escort service.

Paterson said the most recent rumors about himself had been stirred up by an as-yet unpublished New York Times investigation "that spawned a bunch of speculations that are so way out that it's shocking," he said. He said he now fears that all reporters are "stretching the bounds of journalism" in a race to get anyone to confirm a vicious rumor about him.

In the interview with the AP, Paterson declined to identify who he thinks is behind the attacks on his character and said accusing anyone would be as unfair as spreading rumors about him.

"But it is certainly serving others' interest and not mine," he said. "And I think it's a callous and sleazy way to treat a governor who is just trying to do his job and, in a democracy, is trying to keep his job."

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