User:LizArchive/Daniel Lorenzo

Daniel Norford (The Eternal) Lorenzo (May 17th, 1954 - November 26, 2012) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 1st Governor of Albany from 1985 to 2007. A former member of the Progressive Party, he was first elected in the 1984 gubernatorial elections, and re-elected in the 1986 gubernatorial elections, 1990 gubernatorial elections, 1994 gubernatorial elections, 1998 gubernatorial elections, and the 2002 gubernatorial elections. He was the first open atheist to serve in an Albany state position.

Personal life and Political History
Daniel Lorenzo was born to his parents in Palmdale, California. He grew up in Palmdale and attended the University of Berkeley in 1974 for a degree in Political Sciences. At the age of 22 he moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1978. In 1979 he attended Harvard University for a degree in Law and Business, and bought a house in Boston. He had his first and so far only child Austin in 1982 (don't ask how).

In 1983 he moved back to Baltimore and married Jason Holden (the current Speaker of the House) that same year. Daniel decided to run in the 1984 election for Albany Governor and was successful against Communist candidate Roy Cooper. He was one of the first Governors to legalize same-sex marriage and the use of marijuana. In 1986 he founded International Logistics Corporation with Jason Holden. He ran again in the 1986 Progressive primaries but lost by a vote of 3 - 2. In a surprise turn of events, Lorenzo ran against Bill Clinton as an Independent and won with a total of 11 endorsements, a record number! (meta note: idk if this is true but who cares really) Fun fact: Lorenzo and Holden are the most based couple ever.

Lorenzo ran for a third term unopposed in 1990, and ran for a fourth term in 1994, winning with 87% of the vote. He ran for a fifth term unopposed in 1998, and a sixth term unopposed in 2002. In 2004 following the death of his husband Jason Holden, Lorenzo increasingly withdrew from the day-to-day running of Albany. He then went silent for two weeks, supposedly because of grief or trauma. In 2005 he announced that he would not run for a seventh term in 2006, a surprise to many including the media and public. Even with his mental recovery, he maintained that he would not be returning to the Governor's Mansion for a while. With 22 years as leader of America's most populous and richest state, Lorenzo is sure to leave a mark for generations to come.

Ilness and Death
On October 14, 2012, Lorenzo overdosed on morphine presicribed for treating his pain due to gastrointestinal reflux. He was rushed to the Waltham General Hospital in Massachusetts, near his hotel he was staying at while on a charity campaign. Over the course of the next month, his condition deteriorated quickly, with the hospital staff unable to reverse it.

On November 26, 2012, Daniel Norford Lorenzo died in his hospital bed at Waltham General. The coroner ruled it to be nobody's fault, since Lorenzo overdosed himself. A state funeral was ordered by President Jackson Cole, for his substantial work improving America's most populous state. Numerous public officials paid their respects the following days, and his coffer was toured around the state.

Ideology and Political Positions
Lorenzo described himself as a third-way centrist. With centre-left views on social issues, and centre to centre-right views on economic issues, he was akin to most members of the Progressive Party, including Jason Holden and Bill Clinton.