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 Lt. Gov David Paterson will try to heal bruised relations with lawmakers in both parties who were offended by Spitzer's confrontational leadership style. He also faces a tight budget in a slowing economy and memories of divisive issues from Spitzer's less than 15-month tenure.
But Paterson, a fellow Democrat who becomes New York's first black governor and the nation's first legally blind chief executive, plans to be well prepared for the job. He asked for a handover on Monday, five days after Spitzer's resignation.
Spitzer stepped down amid a call-girl scandal that made a mockery of his straight-arrow image and left him facing the prospect of criminal charges and perhaps disbarment.
Paterson said he needed more time to prepare before taking office and wanted Spitzer to say a proper goodbye to his staff. He plans to meet with lawmakers on Monday to lay out his positions and any revisions to Spitzer's budget, which faces an April 1 deadline.
"In these situations, most politicians would be like vultures swarming around the body," said Rep. Steve Israel, who said he had spoken to Paterson. "In contrast, David Paterson actually asked for more time to do his homework."
Spitzer and his successor have starkly different leadership styles. While Spitzer was famously abrasive, uncompromising and even insulting, Paterson has built a reputation as a conciliator, and lawmakers quickly embraced the new order.
"The first thing he can, and I think he will, do is end the era of accusation and contempt and ridicule," Democratic Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said. "I think everyone will be better off because of it."
Barely known outside his Harlem political base, Paterson, 53, has been in New York government since his election to the state Senate in 1985. Though legally blind, he has enough sight in his right eye to walk unaided, recognize people at conversational distance and even read if the text is placed close to his face.
Paterson said in a statement that he was saddened by the scandal, but added: "It is now time for Albany to get back to work, as the people of this state expect from us."
Spitzer resigned Wednesday, making an announcement without securing a plea bargain with federal prosecutors, though a law enforcement official said the former governor was still believed to be negotiating one. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
"I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work," Spitzer said at a Manhattan news conference, his weary-looking wife, Silda, again standing at his side as he answered for his actions for the second time in three days.
The resignation brought down the curtain on a riveting drama -- played out, sometimes, as farce
-- that made Spitzer an instant punchline on late-night TV and fascinated Americans with the spectacle of a crusading politician exposed as a hypocrite.
The scandal erupted Monday after federal law enforcement officials disclosed that a wiretap had caught the 48-year-old father of three teenage daughters arranging to spend thousands of dollars on a call girl at a fancy Washington hotel on the night before Valentine's Day.
Investigators said he had arranged for a prostitute named Kristen to take the train down from New York while he was in the nation's capital to testify before a congressional subcommittee about the bond industry.
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 The New York Times reported Wednesday that the woman's real name is Ashley Alexandra Dupre. She declined comment when asked by The Times when she first met Spitzer and how many times they had been together.
It was unclear whether she would face charges; attorney Don D. Buchwald confirmed that he represents the same woman in The Times story but wouldn't comment further.
Law enforcement officials said the governor had hired prostitutes several times before and had spent tens of thousands of dollars, and perhaps as much as $80,000, on the high-priced escort service Emperors Club VIP, whose women charge as much as $5,500 an hour.
Senior Spitzer aides, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Spitzer had been informed Friday by federal prosecutors that he was linked to the prostitution ring.
But he didn't tell his wife until Sunday, and after several excruciating hours, they told their daughters, the aides said. By Sunday evening, Spitzer had called top advisers, friends and loyalists. The little band huddled in the apartment until midnight.
After making a watery-eyed, non-specific public apology Monday with his wife by his side, Spitzer continued to talk to family and advisers through Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, aides said, he had decided to resign.
In a statement issued after Spitzer quit, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia, the chief federal prosecutor in New York, said: "There is no agreement between this office and Gov. Eliot Spitzer relating to his resignation or any other matter."
Among the possible charges that law enforcement authorities said could be brought against the former governor: soliciting and paying for sex; violating the Mann Act, the 1910 federal law that makes it a crime to take someone across state lines for immoral purposes; and illegally arranging cash transactions to conceal their purpose.
Spitzer could also be disbarred. In New York, an attorney can lose his license to practice law for failing to "conduct himself both professionally and personally, in conformity with the standards of conduct imposed upon members of the bar."
It was a spectacular collapse for a man who cultivated an image as a hard-nosed politician hell-bent on cleansing the state of corruption. He served two terms as New York attorney general, earning the nickname "Sheriff of Wall Street," and was elected governor with a record share of the vote in 2006. The tall, athletic, square-jawed Spitzer was sometimes mentioned as a potential candidate for president.
[Associated
Press; By VERENA DOBNIK and MICHAEL GORMLEY]
Dobnik reported on this story from New York City.
Copyright 2008 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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