RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
And now, for the political drama that's been playing out in New York State: Governor David Paterson has chosen a little-known congresswoman to fill the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. An aide to Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand has confirmed she's the governor's choice. The governor has scheduled a press conference for noon in Albany. Kirsten Gillibrand was first elected to public office a little over two years ago. In choosing her, Paterson passed over two of the Democratic Party's biggest political dynasties: the Cuomos and the Kennedys. North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann joins us now on the line from Saranac Lake, New York. And when I said passed over, of course, actually, Caroline Kennedy withdrew her name from consideration. But let's talk about Kirsten Gillibrand.
BRIAN MANN: Yeah, right. Just a couple of years ago, she was an unknown even here in her district. She is 42 years old. She and her husband have a couple of young kids. She gave birth to her youngest son, Henry, last year while she was out on the campaign trail. Now, she actually does come from another political family in New York, not quite as famous as those others you mentioned. Her father, Doug Rutnik, has been a top lobbyist and deal maker in Albany for years. So, another politically connected choice here for the governor.
MONTAGNE: She herself, though, pretty new to politics.
MANN: Yeah, brand new. She was working as a corporate lawyer in Manhattan in 2006 when she was recruited by Rahm Emanuel. He asked her to make a really long-shot run against an upstate Republican. She raised a ton of money and turned out to be a ferocious campaigner, and she also got lucky. There was that big surge in 2006 for Democrats and her opponent, a guy named John Sweeney, was caught up in a nasty, domestic-violence scandal. So, her win that year was one of the big upsets, and then she was re-elected easily in November.
MONTAGNE: Now, I gather she lobbied pretty fiercely herself for this appointment. But how did what is a relative newcomer rise to the top of Governor Paterson's list?
MANN: Well, I think the first thing is, she got lucky again. Andrew Cuomo - I think it's still a little bit unclear why his name sort of moved to the side. And then Caroline Kennedy, who you mentioned, she was seen as the heir-apparent for this Senate seat. Her bid kind of unraveled. She just couldn't find a way to explain why she should be the one to replace Hillary Clinton at a time when New York faces big problems, a big economic crisis. So, Kennedy's poll numbers crashed, and she eventually dropped out.
MONTAGNE: Now, does it appear that the governor did, in fact, want to replace one woman senator, Hillary Clinton, with another woman? I mean, was that an element that was strongly running through what will, presumably, be this announcement?
MANN: It's going to be interesting to hear what he says about that, but he has sort of telegraphed all along that he did think that that was an important move to make. Kirsten Gillibrand is also the one woman on his list who has a proven track record connecting with voters in parts of New York State where, you know, Democrats just haven't always done very well. And that's a political calculation for Dave Paterson. He's going to be running for re-election next year himself, and to have her sort of at his side running across the state, that could be a great help for him.
MONTAGNE: Brian, thanks very much. Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio, speaking to us from Saranac Lake, New York.