Paterson Notes Women, Hispanics Lack Representation

New York Gov. David Paterson (D) has dropped few clues on who he plans to select as U.S. senator, but he is noting that some groups lack representation in the upper chamber.

Paterson, on CNN Monday, said that though he doesn’t feel pressure to pick a woman to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), he does consider the relatively low number of female senators to be a valid point.

“I don’t consider it pressure, but there were 17 women in the United States Senate, when the woman population is nearly 52 percent,” he said. “And without Hillary, there would be 16. So I think it’s a valid point. I wouldn’t say it’s pressure; I wouldn’t say it’s a factor, but it is a point that people have raised.”

Paterson noted other groups that aren’t well-represented.

“Also, upstate New York doesn’t have an elected official in the state government,” he said. “And the entire Hispanic community, which is 17 percent of New York’s population, has never, in its history, had a statewide or even New York City-wide elected official.”

Paterson, who is in Washington, D.C. for the inaugural festivities, said he hopes to make the Senate appointment by the weekend. He said he could have made his decision if it weren’t for President-elect Obama’s inauguration.