New York's (likely) next governor is a fan of Beverly Perdue's.
With Gov. Eliot Spitzer weighing a resignation in the wake of a prostitution scandal, Lt. Gov. David A. Patterson is set to become the chief executive of the Empire State.
According to campaign finance records, Patterson gave $2,500 to Perdue, a fellow lieutenant governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate here.
She also received a donation from Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor.
Other local connections: Spitzer's wife, Silda, graduated from Meredith College in Raleigh; and Spitzer gave the keynote speech at the N.C. Bar Association meeting Asheville in June.
Spitzer once hosted a New York fundraiser for Perdue's rival, Richard Moore, according to the Charlotte Observer. According to campaign finance records, Spitzer and his wife each gave Moore $4,000 last May.
In Asheville, he praised Moore for using his position as state treasurer to fight investment firms.
"In a world where there was no enforcement," Spitzer said, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times, "we had to step in to ensure the integrity of the marketplace."
Moore was frequently compared to Spitzer for his Wall Street crusades, but both Moore and political reporters will avoid the comparison now.
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Re: Spitzer connections in North Carolina
The Moore people did not waste any time this morning (Tuesday, May 11) cleaning out his campaign website, removing references to Spitzer and at least one video from their Youtube site. The video showed Moore addressing the N.C. Bar Association last summer and leading off with complimentary remarks about Spitzer, who was the chief speaker. The deleted remarks tended to bring out comparisons with Spitzer, whom Moore has associated himself with and whom he has tried to emulate.
Moore is sole trustee of the state pension fund, as as such ought to feel obliged to fulfil the duties of a fiduciary, putting the interests of state employees ahead of his own. Instead, he has used the fund as a means to raise campaign contributions, as is well documented in the national press (Forbes Magazine, Business Week, and elsewhere).