The 2006 New York gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of New York, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections, then incumbent Republican governor George Pataki chose not to run for re-election in a fourth term. Democrat Eliot Spitzer, the New York Attorney General, won the election over former Republican state Assembly minority leader John Faso. As of 2023, this is the last time the Governor’s office in New York changed partisan control. Spitzer was slated to serve between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2010, but he announced his resignation on March 12, 2008 (effective March 17, 2008), amid news of his involvement in a prostitution scandal. Spitzer was succeeded on March 17 by Lieutenant Governor David Paterson. This was the first open-seat election since 1982. To date, he is the last Democratic candidate for governor to have carried any of the following counties: Genesee County, Chautauqua County, Cattaraugus County, Niagara County, Fulton County, Steuben County, Tioga County or Schoharie County. Primaries Democratic Primary Eliot Spitzer – at the time was the New York State Attorney General (1999–2006) According to speeches on his website, Spitzer supported reducing property taxes, lowering the cost of health care; reducing energy costs and reforming workers' compensation. He also proposed urban revitalization, small business incentives, health insurance for every child, reducing Medicaid fraud and abuse and reducing prescription drug costs. Spitzer was nominated on September 12, 2006, over rival Thomas Suozzi. The results of the primary were: Eliot Spitzer was the nominee of the Democratic party of New York for governor. On December 7, 2004, Spitzer announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the 2006 election for Governor of New York. Spitzer's campaign manager was Ryan Toohey of Global Strategy Group, which Spitzer had hired for his 1998 campaign for attorney general and for the gubernatorial campaign. While long rumored, Spitzer's announcement was nevertheless considered unusually early—nearly two years before the day of the gubernatorial election. Some pundits believed the timing of Spitzer's announcement was due to Spitzer's desire to see if Senator Charles Schumer, a more senior Democrat, would run. Schumer, who was largely favored in opinion polls in a hypothetical matchup against Spitzer, announced in November that he would not run for