George Pataki, a
gay-friendly Republican who brought down Democratic icon
Mario Cuomo in 1994 to become governor of New York, said
Wednesday he would not seek a fourth term next year,
and "come 2007, I will follow a new path, find new
challenges." While Pataki is eyeing a possible run for
the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, he told the Associated
Press, "That's for down the road. I'm not ruling anything in
or out, but my goal is to be the best governor I can
be for the next year and a half."
Later, the
nation's longest currently serving governor told several
hundred cheering supporters and rank-and-file state
employees crowded into a large room at the state
capitol that he would call it quits after three terms.
"We've done a lot together, and yet there is always more
to do," he said. "But there is one thing I've understood
from my very first day in public office: That as
elected officials we are only temporary stewards of
the people's trust." Pataki said he was pleased with
the state of the state.
Recent polls in
New York had shown Pataki trailing state attorney general
Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, in a possible 2006 gubernatorial
matchup, and the governor's approval rating had
slipped to an all-time low among New York voters
earlier this year. Democrats were quick to claim that Pataki
was getting out while he could, and even some Republicans
shared that feeling. "We should all be clear about
this--if he thought he could be reelected, he'd
run again," said Howard Wolfson, a strategist for the
state Democratic Party. "George Pataki both defeated Mario
Cuomo and learned from Mario Cuomo," said Republican
strategist Nelson Warfield. "Cuomo left office seeking
a fourth term and went out a loser. Now George Pataki
will retire from state politics undefeated."
Pataki said he
simply felt it was the "right time" to step aside.
"We've been through very tough times since 2001," he told
the AP, referring to the terrorist attacks that
brought down the World Trade Center towers and killed
nearly 3,000 people. "And now I can look at the future
of the state with the confidence that you should have."
The governor
broke the news to more than two dozen current and former
aides and advisers at a dinner Tuesday night at the
Executive Mansion in Albany that was attended by state
GOP chairman Stephen Minarik and state Conservative
Party chairman Michael Long. Pataki was to meet with top
financial supporters, who could bankroll a presidential bid,
Wednesday night in New York City.
Pataki loyalists
have talked up his chances of winning the presidency,
but Warfield said the governor's liberal bent on social
issues--he supports abortion and gay
rights--would not sell in the heartland. "I
think he has very limited appeal as a national candidate, as
a Republican," said Warfield, a top aide on Bob Dole's
unsuccessful 1996 presidential run.
Nonetheless,
House speaker Dennis Hastert called Pataki "a true
public servant" and said the New York governor "has a bright
future in the Republican Party." Rep. Thomas Reynolds, a
powerful New York Republican with long ties to Pataki,
said he was encouraging the governor to explore a 2008
presidential bid. "I've always said it's tough to be
governor of New York and test the waters for the
presidency," said Reynolds.
Pataki has been
under pressure from some fellow Republicans and others to
make a decision about his intentions to give the party a
chance to be competitive against the high-profile
Spitzer. Already, aides to Rudolph Giuliani, the
marquee Republican of New York politics, have said the
former New York City mayor is too busy with private business
interests to run for governor. Giuliani has been
leading in national polls looking at the race for the
2008 GOP presidential nomination.
And billionaire
Michael Bloomberg, the current Republican mayor of New
York City, said earlier this week he has no interest in the
governorship. Without Pataki, Giuliani, and Bloomberg,
the New York GOP may be scrambling for a competitive
candidate for governor. Former Massachusetts governor
William Weld, who moved back to his native New York five
years ago, has said he would seriously look at running
if Pataki bowed out. There has even been some talk of
the party turning to billionaire B. Thomas Golisano,
who has already run three losing races for governor as
the candidate of the Independence Party. Golisano spent $75
million of his own money on the 2002 race, mainly to
beat up Pataki, and finished a distant third with 14%
of the vote.
Pataki said
Wednesday he had some ideas about who should be the GOP
candidate but wasn't ready to make his feelings known. One
potential candidate, Rep. John Sweeney, a former
Pataki buddy who has become something of a critic,
commended Pataki's service to the state but criticized
his political leadership. "I look forward to joining with
my fellow Republicans across New York, to rebuild our
party's infrastructure, present a clear and compelling
message about who we are as a party, and get back to
electing Republicans who can provide solutions to the
challenges facing our state," he said.
