Pataki/Donohue for New York

Starting a Family and a Career
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After moving back to Peekskill with his wife, Libby, George Pataki noticed that his small town wasn't as vibrant as it had been. "Where there was once opportunity, there was now a shared struggle to get by. It hardly resembled the Peekskill I'd known as a kid - the people seemed to lack confidence or faith in tomorrow - and I couldn't see any kind of turnaround on the horizon." With the prospect of finding a place to put down roots to raise their family, he and Libby were torn. "Libby and I wanted to make a commitment to the farm and to the community, but we were disappointed by what was happening to Peekskill; its leadership had left us with a rising crime rate, rising taxes, and a rising vacancy rate that together made pockets of the city seem like a desolate ghost town.... And so we faced a family question: Do we pack up, sell out, and move someplace else, as a great many of our family and friends had done, or do we try and change things? We decided to stay, and it fell to me to deal with changing things in Peekskill." George realized that the changes Peekskill needed were at the top, in the Mayor's office. And so, to fulfill the need, George ran for mayor of Peekskill in 1981. He campaigned with a promise to change business as usual and to do his best to bring opportunity and hope back to Peekskill. When Election Day came, the people of Peekskill picked George Pataki to be their mayor by a 2-1 margin. He was the youngest mayor of the City of Peekskill, and was re-elected with the largest plurality in the city's history.

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