Pataki's predicament: an unfulfilled promise could stand in the way of gay support for the New York governor's reelection bid. (2002 Election Watch).

Near the end of rousing speech to a gay political group shortly after last year's terrorist attacks, New York governor George Pataki delivered a surefire applause line. "America is the greatest place in the world," he intoned. "But once we pass the ... Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, our great country will be a little greater. And I pledge to you I will do everything in my power to make that happen."

One year later, as the Republican girds for his November 5 reelection bid against equally gay-supportive Democrat H. Carl McCall, he may be regretting his words. Empire State Pride Agenda, the gay rights group Pataki addressed that night, has launched an advertising campaign titled "Keep the Pledge." The ads, which have run in this magazine, The New York Times, and several other publications, note that despite the governor's vow to push SONDA (which would outlaw discrimination in hiring, employment, public accommodations, education, and credit), it languishes in the state legislature, as it has for more than 30 years.

ESPA communications director Joe Tarver insists that with Democratic assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and Republican senate majority leader Joe Bruno rubber-stamping most of the enormously popular governor's initiatives, they would do the same on the gay rights bill. "We believe that if George Pataki really wanted SONDA to reach his desk, the legislature would pass it tomorrow," Tarver says.

But Pataki loyalists disagree. "The governor personally committed to me that he would get SONDA passed," says Donald Capoccia, a prominent New York businessman and cofounder of the Republican Unity Coalition, which has supported Pataki. "He may or may not convince the legislature to get this done in a time frame that's acceptable to ESPA. What is Pataki supposed to say to legislators who are opposed? There are three houses of government, and the governor controls only one."

ESPA is backing up its tough talk by withholding its endorsement of Pataki unless the bill, which is currently stalled in the Republican-controlled senate, passes. (ESPA's lobbying campaign was launched under executive director Joe Grabarz. In late September, Grabarz resigned and was replaced by Matt Foreman, who also preceded Grabarz in the post. The change in leadership will not change the group's strategy, Tarver says.)

Though ESPA trod not made an endorsement by press time, Pataki's Democratic challenger, state comptroller McCall, is likely to benefit from Pataki's predicament. "For many years I've been out front on gay rights," McCall says. "Pataki has failed to deliver. The gay community is rightfully frustrated by his failure. That's why I don't understand why [ESPA] is dragging its feet in endorsing my campaign."

Pataki declined repeated requests to comment for this article. But his spokeswoman, Jennifer Farina, says the governor remains committed to the bill. "It's unfortunate ESPA is making this charge," Farina says. "We don't think it's true. We still remain hopeful the senate will pass the bill."

In many ways SONDA is the wrinkle in Pataki's gay rights record. After hurtling from the obscurity of the mayor's office in tiny Peekskill, N.Y., to the state legislature before gaining the governor mansion's eight years ago, Pataki has produced a gay rights record unrivaled among GOPers and a pillar in his stature as a standard-bearer for moderates. In 2000 he signed gay-inclusive hate-crimes legislation. In the aftermath of September 11 the governor signed a series of measures backing benefits for same-sex partners of those who died in the attacks. Also, he included $2.5 million in his executive budget to fund a New York coalition of gay and lesbian social service groups.

A poll commissioned by the New York Blade just before the 2000 general election noted that 9% of likely voters in New York State--over 600,000--identified as gay or lesbian. Polling consortium Voter News Service found that 31% of gay and lesbian voters cast ballots for Pataki in the 1998 governor's race. Republicans rarely capture more than one quarter of the self-identified gay electorate.

"In a close election there is no question that the gay vote can and does turn the tide, and Pataki is well aware of that," says Craig Rimmerman, a professor of political science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y, "The governor is nothing if not a shrewd politician. That's why he has never lost. But in this election, with a big lead in the polls, he does not appear to need the gay vote as much as in the past."