The Gerald Ford Of New York: Richard Ravitch?

On quite a large number of occasions in recent months, we have referred to N.Y. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as the next governor of N.Y., while charting his extensive financial fraud prosecutions. It looks like our prediction is going to be proven incorrect. No, Cuomo is not bowing out of the race. Rather, it is looking more and more likely that the current governor, David Paterson, now facing investigations over his failure to pay for Yankees World Series tickets, among other things, is going to have to resign, and that the current lieutenant governor, Richard Ravitch, will take over as governor until the next governor, whom we firmly predict will be Andrew Cuomo, is inaugurated. 

Ravitch will no doubt have the dubious honor of being the answer to the Jeopardy! question “Who became Governor of New York in a way reminiscent of the way Gerald Ford became President of the United States?” Gerald Ford, one may recall, was named vice president by President Nixon after Spiro Agnew’s resignation; Ford became president after Nixon’s resignation. In New York, Paterson became governor after Eliot Spitzer’s resignation; Paterson then appointed Ravitch, who will succeed him.