Pataki Reconsiders a Run

By COLlive reporter

Former New York Governor George Pataki, who recently started an organization focused on reducing the federal debt, has not ruled out a 2012 presidential run.

The Boston Globe reports that the Republican said last month that he would not run, but he said today the recent decision of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels to skip a campaign may prompt him to reconsider.

“I’m not a candidate at this point, but down the road, you never say never,” Pataki said during an interview after a speech at New England College. “I’m not running now. We’ll see what happens over the course of the next month.”

Another New Yorker, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, is also weighing a campaign.

Pataki has maintained close ties to Chabad-Lubavitch officials and leaders of institutions in Crown Heights, the Chassidic neighborhood in Brooklyn.

He has lit the World’s Largest Menorah in Manhattan with Rabbi Shmuel Butman, has been a regular at events of the Jewish Children’s Museum as a guest of Devorah Halberstam, and honored the Rebbe with proclaiming his birthday as Education Day in the state.

In November 2009, Pataki traveled to Iowa, sparking speculation about presidential ambitions.

Pataki announced in April 2010 that he was creating a nonprofit organization, Revere America, that would advocate for repeal of the recently-enacted United States Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which he said was a “horrific” and costly bungle.