Statement by Senator George Winner on Governor Paterson's Appointment of Richard Ravitch

Albany, N.Y., July 8–State Senator George Winner (R-C-I, Elmira) said today that it’s unconstitutional for New York Governor David Paterson to try to appoint Richard Ravitch, a longtime New York City business and civic leader, to fill the state’s vacant lieutenant governor’s position.

Winner released the following statement:

“Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has already ruled that any move to appoint a lieutenant governor would be unconstitutional, so why would Governor Paterson ignore such a clear-cut opinion?

“The governor’s ploy won’t help get New York government back on track.  We desperately need to demonstrate some good sense, but Governor Paterson has delivered more reckless politics. 

“His actions will create more chaos and potentially derail an agreement we’re close to reaching on effective power sharing to get the Senate back to work.”   

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Update, July 9th: Listen to Senator Winner's comments this morning on Ithaca's WHCU radio news.