George Pataki announces his run for the Presidency.

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.

George Pataki announces – Former New York Governor George Pataki drops out of Presidential Race