Factbox: Political troubles of New York Governor Paterson

(Reuters) - New York Governor David Paterson was expected to announce he was ending his election campaign on Friday after reports that he and the State Police intervened in a domestic violence allegation against a senior aide.

It was the latest political setback for Paterson, 55, a Democrat who was elected lieutenant governor in November 2006 and replaced former Governor Eliot Spitzer in March 2008 when Spitzer resigned due to a prostitution scandal.

Some other political troubles:

* Paterson's tenure as governor got off to a rocky start when, a day after he was sworn in, he admitted to extramarital affairs.

* The White House may have lost confidence in Paterson's ability to win the gubernatorial race in November. The New York Times reported last September that the White House asked Paterson not to run this year because he could not win.

* Paterson drove the choice of Aqueduct Entertainment Group as the new slot-machine vendor for the Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City's borough of Queens. The state inspector general is probing whether the company won the billion-dollar contract because of the political clout wielded by a minor stakeholder. Federal prosecutors are investigating a charity with ties to the company.

* Paterson's financial oversight and ability to win over legislators has repeatedly been called into question since last year, when he failed to deliver all of the deep budget cuts he promised and could not convince legislators that the state's growing deficit needed immediate attention.

* Paterson, the state's first black governor, might be unable to count on the full support of the black community and his political power base in the Harlem section of New York City. The New York Daily News said Democratic politicians considered finding another office for Paterson to seek in order to provide him a "soft landing."

* Frustrated by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's refusal to say whether he will run for governor, Paterson tried to gain favor with voters by attacking state legislators for rejecting his proposed spending cuts. But Paterson's criticism has hurt his ability to get lawmakers to enact his $136 billion budget plan and tougher ethics laws.

* Paterson's political decline may be most closely linked to the way he handled the selection of a U.S. senator to replace Hillary Clinton when she left the Senate to become U.S. secretary of state. The front-runner had appeared to be Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of slain former President John F. Kennedy, but Kennedy withdrew as reports from the governor's camp tarnished her image. Paterson later told the Times he never intended for Kennedy to be the subject of the "character assassination" that occurred.

* Paterson's eventual Senate choice of a two-term Democratic U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand has not proven as popular with voters as her backers had hoped. Harold Ford, a banker and former congressman from Tennessee, says he may challenge her.

(Reporting by Joan Gralla in New York; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Xavier Briand)