David Paterson

Susan Bass Levin, the former Cherry Hill Mayor and state Community Affairs Commissioner, became the Acting Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey – the first woman and the first New Jerseyan to run the powerful bi-state agency.   She will hold the post until the authority picks a replacement for Anthony Shorris.  Traditionally, New Jersey gets the Port Authority chairmanship and New York gets the Executive Director post, which means that the top job now goes to Gov. David Paterson.

David Paterson has been Governor of New York since Monday and voters already like him: he has a 46%-3% approval rating, and 65% of voters already know who he is, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released early this morning. Three-fourths of New York voters (75%) say he will govern effectively and 67% expect that he’ll restore trust in state government. The pollster said that revelations of his extramarital affairs caused voter attitudes about Paterson to shift slightly during the last night of the survey.

“Gov. David Paterson begins with good wishes. By big margins, New Yorkers think he’ll restore public trust – boy, can Albany use that – and be able to govern effectively,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Eliot Spitzer is just the latest in a long list of political sex scandals that goes back to the Continental Congress. Politicker.com has a list of America’s Top 53 Political Sex Scandals that includes prostitutes, sex with minors, strippers, extramarital affairs, massages, nude swim parties, and even a murder. New Jersey gets three slots on the list.CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE LIST

If you’re interested in learning more about New York’s next Governor, read The New York Observer’s story on David Paterson from February 2006.  And for true political junkies, how’s this for a Loser of the Week nomination: Leecia Eve, who was supposed to be the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2006 – until Eliot Spitzer decided he didn’t want her.