NYT/AP: New York's New Governor, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, Sworn in at Midnight

[DeepModem Mom]

NY's New Governor Sworn in at Midnight
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 1, 2007

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Democrat Eliot Spitzer, vowing to ''replace delay and diversion with energy and purpose,'' was sworn in as New York's 54th governor during a private ceremony at midnight Sunday at the governor's mansion.

''Day one has begun,'' Spitzer said to a resounding cheer after being sworn in. ''It is a joy to be here. It will be exciting. I will do my best as the public has asked me to do.''...

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Taking over for three-term (Gov. George) Pataki, who did not seek re-election and is eyeing a run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Spitzer inherits a state government facing significant future budget deficits and recent scandals that have caused, among other things, the resignation of the state Comptroller.

Spitzer, New York's two-term state attorney general who gained international celebrity by taking on major Wall Street institutions, won the governorship on Nov. 7 with a landslide victory over former state Assembly Republican Minority Leader John Faso.

A public inauguration ceremony was be held in a park outside the state Capitol on New Year's Day....

Also being sworn in was Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the elder son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo who was elected to replace Spitzer as attorney general. The younger Cuomo, who had served as federal housing secretary under President Clinton, had unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2002.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Spitzer-Oath.html