on september 18, 2009, advisors to president barack obama informed paterson that the president believed paterson should withdraw his 2010 gubernatorial candidacy and clear a path for "popular attorney general andrew cuomo" to run. according to "the new york times", obama was worried that paterson's continued unpopularity could hinder the campaigns of new york's democratic congressmembers and could also topple democratic control of the state legislature. the "times" cited a potential gubernatorial run by giuliani as another reason for the obama administration's request. on september 19, 2009, paterson insisted he was still running. he reiterated his position on february 9, 2010, saying, "[the] only way i'm not going to be governor next year is at the ballot box and the only way i'll be leaving office before is in a box". on february 26, 2010, however, paterson withdrew his bid for a full term as governor of new york "amid crumbling support from his party and an uproar over his administration’s intervention in a domestic violence case involving a close aide". later in 2010, cuomo became the democratic candidate for governor of new york and won the election in a landslide.