Former New York Gov. George Pataki endorsed Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman tonight, the clearest sign yet that even the most establishment New York Republicans now view Hoffman as having the best shot at preventing a Democrat from winning next Tuesday's special election.

Several of Pataki's former staffers are playing key roles with Republican Dede Scozzafava's campaign, and he wouldn’t be endorsing against her unless the writing was on the wall that there was no chance she could pull out a victory.

Here's Pataki’s statement:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard ... ffman.html