Move over Jon Huntsman and Gary
Johnson, there might be a full marriage equality candidate in the GOP
race for president: Former New York Governor George Pataki.
According
to The New York Daily News, Pataki is close to formally
declaring his bid for the White House.
While former Utah Governor Huntsman's
and former New Mexico Governor Johnson's support for civil unions for
gay and lesbian couples leave them out of sync with their competitors
who mostly oppose gay marriage and support a constitutional amendment
defining marriage as a heterosexual union, Pataki supports full
marriage for gay couples.
The only other GOP candidate who
supports marriage is Fred
Karger, an openly gay former political strategist turned gay
marriage activist.
David Catalfano, a Pataki spokesman,
told the paper that the former governor “continues to give it
serious consideration.”
But the paper noted that New York
Republicans haven't exactly embraced the idea: “[G]iven Pataki's
record in New York – from expanding Medicaid to his generous
dealings with municipal unions – the reaction of the Albany
Republican establishment was 'huh?'”
“Among a lot of New York Republicans
the general sense is that it doesn't make sense,” an unnamed GOP
official said.