New York State has a historic track record with the caliber of Black politicians it has launched onto the national platform.

With congressional dynamos including the late Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Rev. Floyd H. Flake and the current Ways and Mean Chair Congressman Charles Rangel. The Empire State celebrated another milestone with the ascent of Lt. Governor David Paterson, a prominent Black politician and former New York State Senator, to the governorship of New York in the wake of a scandal that ousted Eliot Spitzer.