Former Republican Gov. George Pataki has endorsed Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman in a key New York congressional district race that is testing the soul of the GOP.

The endorsement Friday in the 23rd Congressional District contest came as a surprise from Pataki, who until three years ago led the state's Republican party. He said he can't recall previously endorsing any candidate who wasn't either the Republican nominee or seeking the GOP nomination.

Pataki said Hoffman will stand up better than Republican nominee Dierdre Scozzafava to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, work to curb federal spending and lower taxes, oppose nationalized health care proposals, and counter Democratic spending and growing debt, including what he called President Barack Obama's "phony" stimulus program.

"This, I hope, has an impact not just on Conservatives and Republicans and independents, but there are lot of Democrats out there who I believe are dissatisfied with taking trillions from our children's and grandchildren's' future and borrowing it now so we can have pet spending programs in place," Pataki told The Associated Press on Friday.

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"He may be banking on the fact that he's looking at a winner," Lee Miringoff of the Marist College poll said of Pataki's move.

It's happened before. Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, noted that in the 1970s, Conservative candidate James Buckley won a three-way race for the U.S. Senate, attracting conservative Republicans opposed to GOP Gov. Nelson Rockefeller's politics.

"He's building up enough stuff that he just might win," Carroll said of Hoffman. "I assume Pataki feels he has a shot and he'd like to be on the winning side."

Pataki, 64, has long enjoyed some of his strongest support in northern New York, where the 23rd District spans 11 counties. A moderate who used his environmental protection record when he considered presidential runs, Pataki carried the Conservative line when he ran for governor despite fights with the minor party over social issues, including abortion.

Pataki's endorsement may be a factor for Hoffman because voters have had a short time to learn about the candidates in the special election and turnout may be relatively low Tuesday because it's an off-year election.

"Endorsements aren't the final word, but for a minor party candidate, it's even more important, especially from the former governor," Miringoff said.

Hours later on Friday, Hoffman's campaign announced 27 local Republican leaders in six counties have endorsed Hoffman.

Hoffman already has a string of endorsements from well-known Republicans in recent weeks, including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, former Sen. Fred Thompson, and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

In another sign of Hoffman's momentum, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions said Republicans in Congress would welcome him "with open arms," despite the NRCC's early support for Scozzafava.

"Chairman Sessions was expressing the view that House Republicans would welcome anyone to their ranks who would oppose Nancy Pelosi and her big-government agenda. This changes nothing in our support of the Republican nominee," NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsay said in a statement.

The Republicans from Washington highlighted Hoffman's ideology as a return to the party's roots, while Pataki has roots in the district. He maintains a second home in the district, where he has been an avid hiker and advocate for the Adirondacks. Part of the region's loyalty to Pataki stems from his swift action in a 2003 ice storm that knocked out power to more than 300,000 homes across upstate New York for weeks.

Conservatives began the campaign saying a vote for Hoffman would send a signal to the Republican Party to keep its conservative ideals and not lean closer to the Democrats. They said it was worth the risk of a Democratic win, and the latest polls show Democrat Bill Owens has so far benefited from the splitting of the Republican-Conservative vote. But Conservatives have said in recent weeks they've become confident Hoffman will win.

"This sends a good signal to some of the organized Republican counties, if not all of them, to say it's now OK to move over and I think it will move and help send a signal to those Republicans who were on the fence to come over," said state Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long, the longest tenured party leader in New York. "It's a real important move."

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Associated Press Writer Valerie Bauman contributed to this report.