Goodbye, Pataki

Matt Vespa | December 29, 2015 8:40 PM

After weeks of barely registering on most polls, former New York governor George Pataki is dropping out of the 2016 race. This comes after WMUR, a New Hampshire-based news organization, reported that Pataki had a phone call with New Hampshire supporters telling them he’s folding up the tent:

Ben Gamache, member of Pataki's NH steering committee, tells me he got the call from Pataki this AM. https://t.co/F8TMtvoput
— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) December 29, 2015

Republican presidential candidate George Pataki is planning to end his presidential bid, sources within the campaign confirmed to WMUR Political Director Josh McElveen.

Pataki received less than 1 percent support in the most recent WMUR/CNN Granite State Poll

Gamache said Pataki said "we’re gonna work together as a party, get the best man in office & he doesn’t want to stand in the way of that."
— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) December 29, 2015

Gamache said Pataki made no mention of why he was dropping out (said nothing abt $$ woes) and didn't express support for any candidate.
— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) December 29, 2015

So far, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham have called it quits. Mike Huckabee might/probably will drop out if he doesn’t do well in Iowa in February. Besides the many reasons that will explain Pataki’s departure, one of them was already a deal breaker with the Republican base: Pataki’s pro-choice. And there will never be a Republican nominee for president who supports abortion rights. Also, like Bush, his last campaign was his 2002 gubernatorial re-election campaign in the Empire State. He left office in 2006. That’s quite a long time to be out of the game. At least Bush has name recognition from being part of a political dynasty.