Former New York Gov. George Pataki will join a growing field of 2016 Republican presidential candidates Thursday, with an announcement in Exeter, N.H.
On paper, a three-term governor of a large, predominantly Democratic state would be a serious contender. But Pataki barely registers in the polls, when pollsters even bother to include him, and has not held office since 2007. He will have a difficult time qualifying for the first Republican debate, as even candidates who have never held elected office before are outperforming him.
“It will be a very stiff climb up a very steep mountain, but that hasn’t stopped me in the past,” Pataki acknowledged to the New York Post.
Pataki plans to run as a “Teddy Roosevelt” Republican who champions the environment and “enhancing the outdoors.” He would leave issues ranging from marriage to guns and education to the states. His relative social liberalism is likely why he is focusing on New Hampshire as opposed to other early states like Iowa and South Carolina.
