George Pataki | |
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53rd Governor of New York | |
In office January 1, 1995 – December 31, 2006 |
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Lieutenant |
Betsy McCaughey Mary Donohue |
Preceded by | Mario Cuomo |
Succeeded by | Eliot Spitzer |
Member of the New York Senate from the 37th district |
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In office January 1, 1993 – December 31, 1994 |
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Preceded by | Mary B. Goodhue |
Succeeded by | Vincent Leibell |
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 91st district |
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In office January 1, 1985 – December 31, 1992 |
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Preceded by | William J. Ryan |
Succeeded by | Vincent Leibell |
Mayor of Peekskill | |
In office January 1, 1981 – December 31, 1984 |
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Preceded by | Fred Bianco |
Succeeded by | Richard E. Jackson |
Personal details | |
Born |
George Elmer Pataki June 24, 1945 Peekskill, New York, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Libby Rowland |
Children | Allison Emily Teddy George Owen |
Residence | Garrison, New York |
Alma mater |
Yale University (B.A.) Columbia Law School (J.D.) |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Signature | |
Website | Official website |
George Elmer Pataki (/pəˈtɑːki/; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd Governor of New York (1995–2006). A member of the Republican Party, Pataki was a lawyer who was elected mayor of his home town of Peekskill, later going on to be elected to State Assembly, then State Senate. In 1994, Pataki ran for governor against three-term incumbent Mario Cuomo, defeating him by over a three-point margin as part of the Republican Revolution of 1994. Pataki, succeeding a three-term governor, would himself be elected to three consecutive terms, and was the third Republican Governor of New York elected since 1923, the other two being Thomas Dewey and Nelson Rockefeller. Pataki, as of January 2017 is the last Republican to serve as Governor of New York.
In early 2015, Pataki began exploring a candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, and announced his candidacy on May 28, 2015. On December 29, 2015, Pataki withdrew his presidential candidacy.
Pataki was born in Peekskill, New York. Pataki's paternal grandfather was János (later John) Pataki (1883–1971) of Aranyos-Apáti, Austria-Hungary, who came to the United States in 1908 and worked in a hat factory. János had married Erzsébet (later Elizabeth; 1887–1975), also Hungarian-born, around 1904. Their son, Pataki's father, was Louis P. Pataki (1912–1996), a mailman and volunteer fire chief, who ran the Pataki Farm. Pataki's maternal grandfather was Matteo Laganà (born in Calabria, Italy in 1889), who married Agnes Lynch of County Louth, Ireland around 1914. Their daughter, Margaret Lagana, is Pataki's mother. Pataki has an older brother, Louis. George Pataki can still speak a little Hungarian today, as well as Spanish, French, and German.