George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984. Pataki was the third Republican since 1923 to win New York's governorship, after Thomas E. Dewey and Nelson Rockefeller, and is the most recent one to do so.
Pataki's most notable achievements as governor included the creation of a number of new health care programs, presiding over recovery efforts following the September 11 attacks, and for increasing the state's credit rating three times. He chose not to run for a fourth term in 2006; he was succeeded by Democrat Eliot Spitzer. Pataki and Mary Donohue are the last Republicans elected to statewide office in New York, although Republicans Joseph Bruno and Dean Skelos each briefly served as acting Lieutenant Governor in 2008.
Pataki announced his candidacy for the Republican Party presidential nomination on May 28, 2015. He withdrew from the race shortly before the primaries began on December 29, 2015.
Early life and education
Pataki was born on June 24, 1945 in Peekskill, New York. Pataki's paternal grandfather was Pataki János of Aranyosapáti, Kingdom of Hungary. The family name's Hungarian pronunciation is and means "from the creek." János came to the United States in 1908, worked in a hat factory and had married Erzsébet, also Hungarian-born, around 1904. Their son, Pataki's father, was Louis P. Pataki, a mailman and volunteer fire chief, who ran the Pataki Farm. Pataki's maternal grandfather was Matteo Laganà, who married Agnes Lynch of County Louth, Ireland around 1914. Their daughter, Margaret Lagana, was Pataki's mother. Pataki has an older brother, Louis. Pataki speaks some Hungarian as well as Spanish, French, and German.After graduating from Peekskill High School, Pataki entered Yale University in 1963 on an academic scholarship and graduated in 1967 with a history major. While there, Pataki was Chairman of the Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union, where he participated in debates. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1970.
Early political career
While practicing law at Plunkett and Jaffe, P.C. in Peekskill, Pataki became friends with Michael C. Finnegan, who would go on to be the architect of Pataki's ascendancy to power. Finnegan would go on to manage Pataki's campaigns for Mayor, State Assembly, State Senate, and the governorship. Finnegan was then appointed chief counsel to the governor in 1995, and played the key role in developing and negotiating nearly all of Pataki's early legislative success.Mayor of Peekskill
Pataki first won elected office in November 1981. He was elected mayor of the city of Peekskill, which is located in the northwestern part of Westchester County. Pataki defeated Democratic incumbent Fred Bianco Jr., winning 70% of the vote. In November 1983, he was re-elected mayor, winning 74% of the vote.New York State Assembly
In November 1984, Pataki was elected to the New York State Assembly, by defeating one-term Democratic incumbent William J. Ryan, winning 53% of the vote. In November 1986, Pataki defeated Ryan in a rematch, capturing 63% of the vote. Pataki won a third term in November 1988, winning 74% of the vote against Democratic candidate Mark Zinna. Pataki won a fourth and final term in November 1990, winning over 90% of the vote, as he only faced a minor party candidate. He was an assemblyman in the 186th, 187th, 188th and 189th New York State Legislatures.New York State Senate
From 1983 to 1992, the 91st Assembly district included parts of Westchester, Orange, Rockland, and Putnam Counties. However, in 1992, Assembly Democrats substantially redrew the district boundaries, placing the newly renamed 90th Assembly district entirely within Westchester County. Instead of running in the newly redrawn district, Pataki decided to challenge seven-term incumbent Republican State Senator Mary B. Goodhue in a Republican primary in Senate District 37 by criticizing her for taking her grandchildren to Disney World and missing a vote in Albany. Pataki won the primary by a 52% to 48% margin. However, Goodhue still planned to appear on the November ballot on a minor party line. In November 1992, Pataki won the general election. He served in the Senate during the 190th New York State Legislature and ran for governor at the next election.Gubernatorial campaigns
1994 campaign
Pataki was a first-term state senator from Westchester County when he launched his bid for the Republican nomination for governor in 1994. He said he launched the campaign because of his frustration in the Senate regarding how Albany worked and on tax issues. Pataki's campaign received a boost when he was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Al D'Amato. He received the party's endorsement at the spring state convention and easily defeated former State Republican Chairman Richard Rosenbaum in the September primary. Pataki was considered an underdog from the start since he was running against three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo and because Pataki had little name recognition statewide. D'Amato reportedly backed Pataki because of a poll that showed a pro-choice, fiscal conservative from the New York City suburbs could win statewide for governor. The poll also showed a female running mate for lieutenant governor would help the ticket. Academic Betsy McCaughey was chosen as Pataki's running mate.The polls had Governor Cuomo ahead by as many as ten points going into the final two weeks, but they narrowed at the end. Pataki made an issue of Cuomo seeking a fourth term as governor and pledged to serve only two terms in office. Cuomo was helped late in the race by the endorsement of New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Pataki narrowly defeated Cuomo in the general election. Many, including Pataki himself, believed Howard Stern's endorsement of Pataki was a major reason for his win. He finished with 48.8% of the vote to Cuomo's 45.5%, and independence candidate Tom Golisano finished with 4.2%.
Pataki made up for a soft performance in New York City by running up a decisive margin outside of it, especially among upstaters disenchanted with Cuomo. Pataki won all but one county outside the Five Boroughs. Pataki became New York's first elected Republican governor since Nelson Rockefeller.
1998 campaign
Pataki was considered the front-runner from the start of the 1998 campaign for governor. He was unopposed for the Republican nomination and paired with a new running mate, Judge Mary Donohue. The Democrats faced a primary battle between New York City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey Ross, who had switched parties, and former Transportation Commissioner James LaRocca. Vallone captured the Democratic nomination, with Thomas Golisano running as the Independence nominee and McCaughey Ross as the Liberal Party nominee. Pataki was easily reelected to a second term in office. He finished with 54.3% of the vote, his highest percentage finish in a gubernatorial race, to Vallone's 33.2% and Golisano's 7.7%.2002 campaign
Pataki was considered a strong contender for a third term, despite having pledged in 1994 to serve only two terms. He ran again on a ticket with Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue and the Democrats faced a primary battle between State Comptroller Carl McCall and former HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, Mario Cuomo's son. Pataki emphasized his previous work and the need to have continuity following Sept. 11.McCall essentially secured the Democratic nomination when Andrew Cuomo stumbled ; Cuomo was quoted in the media as saying, regarding Pataki's performance post-9/11:
Pataki stood behind the leader. He held the leader's coat. He was a great assistant to the leader. But he was not a leader. Cream rises to the top, and Rudy Giuliani rose to the top.
Pataki sought the nomination of the Independence Party of New York in his bid for a third term as well. He faced the party's founder and 1994 and 1998 nominee, Thomas Golisano, in his bid for the nomination. Pataki ran an active primary campaign and lost to Golisano. Donohue did win the primary for lieutenant governor and was the running mate of both Pataki and Golisano in the general election.
In the general election, Pataki defeated McCall and Golisano easily. As in 1998 due to Golisano's presence on the ballot, Pataki did not win a majority, instead winning a plurality. Pataki won 49.4% of the vote, and McCall only mustered 33.5% with wins in four of the five New York City boroughs. Golisano finished with the highest vote total of his political career, and the highest vote total for any candidate of the Independence Party of New York in any statewide election.
This was the last time a Republican was elected Governor of New York, and the last time a Republican has cracked over 41% in a gubernatorial election until the 2022 election in which Republican candidate Congressman Lee Zeldin amassed 47% of the vote against incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul.
Retirement from the governorship
By the summer of 2005, opinion polls indicated that Pataki would face an uphill battle if he sought a fourth term in 2006. Accordingly, he announced on July 27, 2005, that he would not do so, saying that New York was "a better state than it was 10 years ago" and that he was retiring so he could "follow a new path, find new challenges." He was succeeded by Democrat Eliot Spitzer.Governorship and political positions
As Governor of New York, Pataki was known as a moderate to Liberal Republican who cut taxes and was tough on crime, but who also supported gun control, environmental protection, gay rights, and abortion rights.Fiscal policy
Taxes, spending, budget power, and economic growth
Under the Pataki Administration, New York's credit rating was increased three times by Moody's Investors Service, a fact that he highlighted often before his critics. During his three terms in office, he introduced and approved more tax cuts than any of his predecessors. Following through on a campaign promise, Pataki led a push to cut both the individual and the corporate tax rates in New York. The state's infamously high income tax rates dropped by 20% on average, but an economic downturn following the attacks of September 11 and increasing state spending caused Sheldon Silver and Joseph Bruno to coordinate an effort to roll back a number of these cuts in 2003 over Pataki's veto power.The STAR and STAR-Plus programs were also introduced during Pataki's governorship. The STAR program introduced tax relief for New York's homeowners and landowners on their school taxes. The STAR-Plus program was later introduced when relief was diminished by increasing school taxes, increasing spending and State Aid. In his third term Pataki challenged the Speaker of the Assembly, resulting in two Court of Appeals decisions sustaining the powers of the governor to formulate a statewide budget.