David Paterson nació el 20 de mayo de 1954 en Brooklyn, Nueva York, Nueva York, Estados Unidos. Está casado con Mary Sliwa desde el 10 de agosto de 2019. Ha estado casado con Michelle Paige.
On the passing of Elaine Kaufman: When I first became governor, there was a lot of pressure on me and she really made it a very positive experience whenever I came in here. Everybody loved her. She was very gracious. I'm sure she had to be very tough to get where she got but, at the same time, she was very warm.