By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Gov. David Paterson officially announced his gubernatorial campaign on Saturday morning, amidst record-low poll numbers and weeks of rumors that a New York Times article would end his bid for governor.
Speaking to a crowd of roughly 400 at Hofstra University in his hometown of Hempstead, Long Island, Paterson said, "this is a governor that does not quit,” and said that like many New Yorkers, he had fought against the odds to get where he is today, and he would continue to fight for New Yorkers.
The governor has characterized himself as an outsider running against Albany insiders — despite his years in the State Senate — and has said that special interests are trying to force him out of the race.
Recently he used his "outsider" status to explain the paltry $3 million in campaign funds he has as compared to the $16 million expected Democratic opponent Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has in the bank.
Paterson trails Cuomo by 42 points in a potential Democratic primary and he is also 7 points behind Republican candidate Rick Lazio, the latest Siena Poll reported (PDF).
Paterson's campaign kick-off took him upstate to Rochester and Buffalo over the weekend, before he headed down to Washington, D.C. for a governors meeting at the White House.
This Sunday he will have a campaign event in Harlem, where he is expected to be joined by several public officials — none of whom were present at the Long Island announcement.
