Paterson became governor last spring after then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign amid a sex scandal.

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He has spent this spring in the governor's mansion in Austin, busy with state legislation and counting his campaign contributions.

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But the limbo is not helpful: if the recall is delayed, legislators cannot be certain until next spring of who will occupy the governor's mansion.

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With politicians clamouring for the central bank to buy shares, the scheduled replacement next spring of Masaru Hayami, the Bank's governor, also weighed on a few officials' minds.

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So now Mr. Walker, his lieutenant governor and four state senators will face the voters as early as this spring or summer.

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It is hoped the new governor will be in place in time to supervise the relocation of prisoners to Jurby, scheduled for spring 2008.

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The law is so new--and the scandal that inspired it still so fresh in the public's memory--that its violation has put the Governor on the defensive, even though it was Bush who pushed the measure through the legislature last spring.

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