Spitzer '81 cruises to victory in New York

Riding a surge of support for Democrats among voters in New York, Eliot Spitzer '81 was elected governor of New York last night, defeating Republican John Faso by more than a two-to-one margin.

Spitzer is New York's first Democratic governor in 12 years, replacing three-term Republican George Pataki, who did not run for reelection.

Voters ousted Republicans from the New York governor's mansion decisively: With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Spitzer garnered 69 percent of votes, compared to Faso's 29 percent.

Spitzer's successful campaign led a victorious statewide Democratic ticket, including the reelection of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and the election of Andrew Cuomo, son of former New York governor Mario Cuomo, to replace Spitzer as attorney general.

Spitzer, who rose to prominence prosecuting white-collar crime as New York's attorney general, promised in his campaign to cut property taxes for the middle class, reform workforce training programs and invest in schools and research.

In a campaign speech, Spitzer pledged to provide "substantial property tax relief" to "every homeowner but the wealthiest two percent whose incomes exceed $235,000."

At the same time, Spitzer proposes to invest $4 billion to $6 billion in failing New York schools. He thinks New York City needs to spend more money on education, though mayor Michael Bloomberg has opposed this idea.

Spitzer also said that he hopes to establish a "New York State Innovation Fund" to promote research that can be used to bolster New York's various industries and commercial trade.

He has suggested that he would support a decision by the New York legislature to authorize gay marriage.

Spitzer's career in politics began at Princeton, where he majored in the Wilson School and served as USG chairman, the position known today as USG president. His platform centered on his later successfully realized plans to allow students more time to exercise the pass/D/fail option for a class.

After Princeton, Spitzer attended Harvard Law School, worked for various law firms and served as assistant district attorney before being elected New York state attorney general in 1998.

"People find it hard to believe that I didn't always want to be in politics," Spitzer told The Daily Princetonian in May 2005. "But it truly was not a career goal that I woke up with every morning."

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"The relationship between what happened in my career and my education is by no means linear. I could just as easily be working with my dad in business."

In 1994, his campaign for New York state attorney general ended with a defeat in the democratic primary. He ran again in 1998, winning a narrow victory, and was reelected overwhelmingly in 2002.