ny_gov_McCAUGHEY ROSS

(CBS) 


LT. GOV. BETSY McCAUGHEY ROSS

Age: 49

Born: October 20, 1949; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Education: Columbia University , Ph.D. (1976), M.A. (1972); Vassar College, B.A. (1970)

Military: None

Family: Married - Wilbur; Three children

Hometown: New York, New York


Religion: No affiliation

Career: Lt. Governor of New York State (1995-present); John M. Olin Fellow, Manhattan Institute (1993-1994); Senior Scholar, Center for the Study of the Presidency (1989-1992); College Professor at Columbia University and Vassar College (1978-1983)

• Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, McCaughey Ross grew up with limited funds. Her father was a maintenance worker in a factory and his dream was for his daughter to attend college. When she was 13, she won a scholarship to a preparatory school. In 1970, she graduated from Vassar College, and six years later she received a Master's Degree and Ph.D. from Columbia University. She has been a college professor at Vassar and Columbia, and is the author of many prize-winning articles and books.

• In 1994, Republican gubernatorial candidate, George Pataki plucked McCaughey Ross from relative obscurity when he picked her to be his running mate. She was a political neophyte who had gained notoriety after writing articles critical of the Clinton health care plan. When Pataki defeated then-Governor Mario Cuomo, McCaughey Ross was elected Lieutenant Governor. However, the relationship between McCaughey Ross and Pataki was never close, and it progressed from bad to worse. Never in his inner circle, she acquired a reputation as a loose cannon and was accused of trying to upstage Pataki during his State of the State address. After some unflattering stories about her surfaced in the press, she accused Pataki's team of running a campaign to discredit her.

• In 1997, Pataki dropped McCaughey Ross from his reelectin team. She decided to switch parties and become a Democrat. Later that year she was backing Democrat Jim McGreevey in his campaign for New Jersey governor and publicly criticizing Pataki and his policies.

• McCaughey Ross was the early front-runner for the 1998 Democratic nod, but her campaign never quite got off the ground. Far behind in the polls just a few weeks before the September primary, her campaign suffered a fatal blow when her wealthy husband, Wilbur Ross, withdrew more than $2 million that he had pledged to her campaign. She was defeated by more than 2-to-1 in the primary by New York City Councilman Peter Vallone. Her name remains on the ballot because she had already won the Liberal Party nomination.