Spitzer’s Ambition

A story that many felt would fall by the wayside prior to the November elections has created a firestorm in the Big Apple. State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who used a government employee and chauffeured car to drive his wife around town for three years, has been forced to resign for never intending to reimburse the city $206,000 in fees. The issue only surfaced when he was challenged by his Republican opposition. Hevesi was further doomed by now-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who demanded that Hevesi resign and hinted at criminal actions against him if he didn't. Now the governor wants to have the new comptroller from outside the political structure, which has sent many of his Democratic allies in the assembly challenging him, for they have been jockeying for one of their own to have the position. Also further alienating Spitzer from his base was his recent appointment of Republican state Sen. Michael Balboni as his deputy secretary for public safety. That left many Democrats feeling really angry and betrayed by a Democrat elected to govern the state for the first time in 12 years. Even during Spitzer's address to the state legislature he received standing ovations from Republicans and not Democrats, which was strange in and of itself. This happened because in his address he championed many of the Republicans’ pet projects: adding more charter schools; passing a law to allow the state to civilly confine sex offenders who have served their prison terms to overhauling some laws favored by unions. Many are wondering if Spitzer is already signaling that he has future presidential aspirations and is wasting no time building a broad section of support, starting with his home state of New York.

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