Perkins discourages Paterson re-election

State Senator Bill Perkins, who represents parts of Harlem, said on Thursday that the time has come for Governor David Paterson to drop his bid for re-election.

Amid accusations that Paterson and the New York State Police intervened in a domestic violence case against one of Paterson’s top aides, Perkins said in an interview Thursday evening that the governor’s campaign has weakened, and this could be the final straw.

“Weak as the campaign was, this investigation has made it even weaker,” he said.

Perkins, who holds Paterson’s former office, is one of the first key African-American democrats to speak out against the governor.

In October, a woman went to court in the Bronx to testify that she had been violently assaulted by David W. Johnson, one of Paterson’s most senior aides.

Her lawyer told press that since she brought forth the case, she has been harassed by State Police to drop it, and received a personal call from the governor in early February, days before she failed to show up for a court appearance that resulted in the case’s dismissal.

Paterson has declined to comment on the call, but has asked Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo to investigate the matter. Spokespeople for Paterson did not return requests for comment on Thursday.

Perkins said that regardless of the outcome of the investigation, those kinds of accusations would be “fatal” to his campaign.

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions regarding his conduct, but if what’s been revealed is true, it’s certainly disappointing,” he said.

Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, CC ’12 and webmaster for the College Democrats, said that despite the strong words, he didn’t think Perkins’ disapproval signaled a real shift in stance.

“At the moment I think this is largely symbolic, rather than a real change in his stance,” he said. “There are an increasing number of democrats who are being more vocal about opposing Paterson, and that is significant.”

Paterson told reporters at an event last night that he would continue his bid for re-election. He will be holding the campaign’s kick-off event this Sunday on 125th.

“His popularity has been in the tank for the past year or so,” said Spitzer-Rubenstein, who says that he follows local politics very closely. “It was only a matter of time before something was going to happen that would finally finish him off, and I think this is probably it.”