George Elmer Pataki is a Republican and the incumbent governor of New York State, born June 24th, 1945 in Peekskill, New York. He graduated from Yale University in 1967 and Columbia Law School in 1970, and served as the mayor of Peekskill as well as ten years in the New York State legislature before being elected governor. In 1994, he won the gubernatorial race against Democratic incumbent Mario Cuomo, and was re-elected in 1998. Pataki his four children with his wife, Elizabeth.

Governor Pataki has made a number of accomplishments while in office, beginning with the spending cuts that he has supported throughout his career. 1999, he enacted legislation that would provide health insurance to low-income adults who don’t receive health insurance from work, under the Family Health Plus program. He made a wave of tax cuts in 2003, specifically in health care and education, despite New York State’s rising deficit. He argued that new taxes would drive business out of state, eliminating jobs and pushing the state into deeper financial trouble.

Though he’s considered moderate on many social issues, Pataki is a supporter of abortion rights, and heavily lobbied for a gay rights bill that Senate Leader Joseph Bruno opposed. The governor caught flack in 2004 when Bush lost New York in the presidential election, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer was reelected in a landslide victory, and Democrats won Congressional and legislative seats. Congressman Peter T. King believed Pataki’s aimlessness was to blame.

Should the Governor run for re-election, he’ll likely face NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is favored to win such a match up. Pataki also has the option of taking Hillary Clinton’s spot in the Senate, but polls favor her as well.