Republican former Gov. George Pataki on Monday endorsed GOP state Senate hopeful Mike Martucci in his bid for a Hudson Valley district. 

Pataki pointed to Martucci's resume as a small business owner in the Hudson Valley. 

“In the middle of an economic downturn, Mike took the biggest risk of his life, the same risk thousands of New Yorkers take every year, and used his life savings to start a small business. Despite the levers of Albany bureaucracy working against him, Mike’s made it thrive,” Pataki said. “I couldn’t be prouder to endorse someone of such exemplary character and caliber as Mike Martucci for State Senate.”

Martucci is challenging Democratic incumbent Jen Metzger, a first-term lawmaker who flipped a GOP-held seat two years ago. 

“As a young person, I was inspired by the governor as he was also a farmer from the Hudson Valley and understood the needs of Upstate that were often forgotten in Albany’s halls of power," Martucci said.

"The governor gave the common man a voice and he fought to create an economy where every New Yorker could raise a family and build a secure future. The governor was able to reach across the aisle and build consensus, and in the days following 9/11 he brought us together and united us in a purpose that has since faded. As someone whose family was directly impacted by 9/11, I share his purpose and philosophy and it is my mission to rekindle this spirit of bi-partisanship and restore balance between Upstate and Downstate in the Capitol.”