| abstract | - Charles J. O'Byrne (born 1959) is an American lawyer and political staffer who is second in command to Governor of New York David Paterson, serving as Secretary to the Governor. The post is considered the most powerful in Albany after the Governor himself. He is openly gay. O'Byrne previously served as a staff member to Paterson during his time as Lieutenant Governor of New York as well as in the New York State Senate. He also worked as a speech writer for Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. Prior to entering politics, O'Byrne left a promising career as an attorney to join the Catholic priesthood, and was a member of the Society of Jesus for twelve years. He had long talked about authoring a controversial, but never published "kiss and tell", entitled Going My Way, about sex in the Catholic Church. A teaser was published in Playboy magazine in 2002. He is now a practicing Episcopalian. O'Byrne is an active athlete having completed two New York City Marathons and in June 2007 completed his first triathlon.
|
