By Josh Kurtz
Roll Call Staff
January 22, 2009, 4:48 p.m.
New York Gov. David Paterson (D) will end the suspense Friday and name a successor to former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D), who became secretary of State this week.
Paterson has scheduled a midday news conference in Albany to announce his choice.
But on the heels of Caroline Kennedy’s abrupt and unexpected withdrawal from the Senate sweepstakes early Thursday, controversy continues to swirl around the replacement process.
On Thursday, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D), who rose to political prominence after the shooting death of her husband in 1993, told the New York Times that if Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) is appointed to the Senate, she would mount a primary challenge next year against Gillibrand.
Gillibrand and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) are seen as the leading contenders for the Senate appointment now that Kennedy has departed from the scene, though several other officeholders are also under consideration.
McCarthy, who has made the push for stricter gun-control measures the central cause of her Congressional career, cited Gillibrand’s support from the National Rifle Association as the reason why she would run against her House colleague. McCarthy’s husband was one of several people killed on a Long Island Railroad car during an evening rush hour when a gunman opened fire on the crowd. Her son was injured in the shooting spree.
moreReally too bad Caroline Kennedy dropped out. The reasons bandied about are
still rumors. The truth will come out eventually.