Nov 14, 3:12 PM EST
By DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate seat is still warm - and occupied - but the first notes are already sounding in the New York game of musical chairs to succeed her.
If President-elect Barack Obama does select her to be secretary of State, it would further scramble the power structure in the state, which was upended earlier this year when a prostitution scandal forced out Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Just the names of potential successors - a Kennedy and Cuomo among them - conjure images of Democratic royalty, a successor worthy of following the former first lady.
Clinton's elevation to Obama's cabinet would give the current governor, David Paterson, authority to appoint someone to the U.S. Senate until a special election in 2010 to pick who would to serve out the last two years of her term.
Paterson's spokeswoman, Risa Heller, offered no clues Friday what the governor might be thinking.
"Senator Clinton is an outstanding senator, and would be an extraordinary secretary of State but that's a decision for President-elect Obama," Heller said. "We aren't going to speculate on speculation."
Until Spitzer's resignation, Paterson himself was considered a likely candidate to succeed Clinton if she had won her bid for the White House.
That seems more unlikely, now that Paterson is saddled with a financial crisis, has no lieutenant governor to automatically succeed him and has clearly signaled he'd like to keep the state's top job.
So the list of usual suspects quickly grows unusual.
There's New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has long wanted to be governor but perhaps could be persuaded to become a senator. Picking him would remove a potential primary rival to Paterson. Cuomo faltered in the 2002 gubernatorial primary against Carl McCall.
Some are already pushing for Buffalo-area congressman Brian Higgins. Tom Suozzi's name has come up, too. He's the Long Island politician who made a name for himself railing against New York's notoriously high property taxes, battled Spitzer for the 2006 gubernatorial nomination then was appointed by Spitzer to chair a tax-cap commission.
Plenty of other New York members of Congress are in the early mix as well: Nita Lowey, who was in line to seek the Senate seat until Clinton moved in; Steve Israel, a moderate from Long Island; New York City's Carolyn Maloney or Jerrold Nadler, both veteran lawmakers; or Kirsten Gillibrand, a relatively new upstate politician but one who has won Republican votes and raised scads of money.
Israel said he wants what's best for Clinton, but if she were to leave the state, he would consider succeeding her.
"I love public service and if the governor were to ask me to continue in a different capacity, I'd welcome it," Israel said. "I like the priorities that our current senators have. Should Senator Clinton choose to leave the Senate, the state needs someone who can fill her shoes and fight for her priorities."
Clinton's Senate seat was once held by Bobby Kennedy, and some are already suggesting his son, environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., should put the family's name back on the office door.
