In October 2002, he released 61 letters he had written on state letterhead to heads of companies in which the state owned large blocks of stock, asking them to review enclosed resumes of his relatives and other job-seekers.
Some of the letters referred to the size of the state's owrnership interest in the corporation targetted, which critics claimed amounted to a veiled threat to punish companies that didn't hire his relatives.
McCall defended the letters. Although he did issue a statement regretting the "appearance" and "impression" of the letters he wrote on government stationery, he maintained that he "never sought to leverage my public position nor mix my government role with my personal and professional relationhishp" in the letters.
McCall was defeated in the election for governor by the Republican incumbent, George Pataki. He received 33% of the vote.
McCall is currently on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange.