Gov. Andrew Cuomo says his predecessor in New York’s highest office, David Paterson, will be the new chairman of the New York State Democratic Party.

Cuomo, who immediately followed Paterson in office, is announcing the choice Wednesday at the state party convention on Long Island.

A longtime state senator from Harlem, Paterson was lieutenant governor for two years when Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a scandal. Paterson served two years as governor.

Assemblyman Keith Wright and Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner have been party co-chairs, chosen by Cuomo in 2012. Miner recently resigned.

Paterson says “economic credibility” is at the center of the new party, with reduced taxes and job growth, while its opponents this fall “hail from the ultraconservative movement” against gay marriage, abortion rights and measures to help immigrants.

(AP)