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HV Officials Offer Views On A Potential Pataki Presidential Run

Courtesy of Christopher Peterson

Former New York Governor George Pataki is in a large field of Republicans considering the launch of a presidential campaign for 2016. Even with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney last week announcing he would not seek a run, the GOP field mulling a bid remains crowded. WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne spoke with a few local elected officials about what Pataki would bring to the race.

It’s the third time the former governor is considering a presidential bid, having done so in 2008 and 2012. Pataki served as governor for three consecutive terms after stints in the state senate and assembly. He’s a Peekskill native, where he was mayor for a term. Republican Frank Catalina is the current Peekskill mayor.

“I was very pleased when he said that he may consider running for president. I certainly would support him,” says Catalina. “I think George is perfect for a… He was a mayor of Peekskill where Democrats outnumber Republicans almost 3-1, as I am a Republican, but he also got elected governor three times in a very, very blue state.”

Catalina calls Pataki the environmental governor.

“So when it comes to fiscal issues, you cannot waste a dime under Governor Pataki, but when it comes to the social issues, he’s moderate, I think he’s moderate on the social issues and on the fiscal issues he’s very conservative,” Catalina says. “And when it comes to things like the environment and things that, everyday things that we need he’s, I believe he’s a very mainstream candidate, exactly what the Republicans need.”

Catherine Borgia disagrees. She is Democratic majority leader on the Westchester County Board of Legislators and believes being moderate is out of synch with current Republican politics.

“It’s always fun to have candidates from your state being in the mix. And if you remember there was a brief time, I guess, during the 2012 race where both he and Giuliani were considering running and that was kind of exciting,” says Borgia. “But because I think he is a more moderate Republican that the, of the type that the Republican Party seems to have rejected, I would say, I would have to put his chances at low.”

Borgia refers to former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani. She served as chief of staff for Assemblywoman Sandy Galef under Pataki.

“I don’t think he was a terrible governor. I don’t think he was a good governor,” says Borgia. “He was very, he was interested in making government smaller but he wasn’t very, except for he did a tremendous amount of land conservation and he was very good on environmental issues, I don’t think there, I can’t think of really anything that particularly distinguishes his time as governor, and I would say good or bad.”

Here’s Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, who in November lost his bid for New York governor.

“Why not? I think Governor Pataki has a lot to offer to the national dialogue,” says Astorino. “I think he did a good job in New York. He’s got some very good ideas.”

The second-term county executive explains some of those ideas.

“Well look, he cut taxes in New York, especially in his first term. He had good environmental initiatives that balanced with business and moving the state forward,” Astorino says. “I think, on the national dialogue, he, unfortunately we’ve been part of terrorism here in New York, so he understands national security is extraordinarily important not just in New York but to the country. So I think he could add to the dialogue in really important ways.”

Pataki has launched a political action committee called Americans for Real Change.

“When America’s economy is struggling and Washington is booming, it’s time for a new America. Big government benefits the rich and powerful. They can afford to play the game. You can’t. It’s time for a new America with a much smaller federal government. Washington can’t run the economy and shouldn’t try and run our lives. Less government, more freedom.”

Catalina emphasizes that Pataki’s moderate views on social issues gel with current Republican Party views.

“I think the Republicans are poised to get four or eight years of Hillary [Clinton] rammed down our throats if we go to the extremes and elect some elitist that can’t connect with the everyday person or extremist from the religious right,” Catalina says.

Again, Borgia.

“He’s a local boy so in that sense, from Peekskill, which I now represent, I think that there’s, I’m sure there’s going to be local excitement about the possibility just in the same way that we Democrats feel excited when we hear that if Hillary Clinton moves forward that she might be considering doing local offices in Westchester County," Borgia says. "We like to be close to the action.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her husband former President Bill Clinton reside in Chappaqua, in Westchester County. Pataki now resides in Putnam County, where his wife Libby Pataki serves as the county’s tourism director. More than a dozen names are being bandied about on the Republican side, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush; New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

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