A few interesting political tidbits came out today

In New York, Governor David Paterson has appointed a new Lt. Governor in an effort to resolve the ongoing dispute in the State Senate. For those who may have missed some of this battle, the short version is that New York has no provision for replacing a vacancy in the office of Lt. Governor so when Paterson took over for Eliot Spitzer, the state had nobody in the post.

This became a problem when a Democrat in the State Senate jumped ship and left the body, which  had been controlled by the GOP for many years, evenly divided. With nobody to break the tie, things have ground to a halt. Now Paterson is trying to claim that the NY Constitution  gives him the power to name a Lt. Governor but that view is not accepted by fellow Democrat (and, to be fair, rival) State AG Andrew Cuomo.

Needless to say this is not likely to solve the problem any time soon as court battles are bound to ensue.

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Meanwhile in Illinois, popular State AG Lisa Madigan has reportedly decided she will not  run for the US Senate or Governor in 2010, much to the disappointment of her fellow Democrats (including President Obama) who  had tried to get her to run for the Burris seat.

On the Republican side US Congressman Mark Kirk is running and he is considered  a  strong candidate, which could give the recently moribund GOP a shot at winning a statewide contest.

Also in the news, prosecutors have cut a deal with a former aide to ex Governor Soprano, which means they will likely testify at his trial either this or next year, something that Democrats do not want to see during an election campaign.

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In New Hampshire, State AG Kelly Ayotte (R) announced she will step down from that post in order to explore a possible 2010 Senate race. Most expect her to run and that is a real coup for the GOP who otherwise faced a probable loss of that seat, being vacated by Judd Gregg (R)