Mar 17, 2015 2 min read

ALBANY, N.Y. – Former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said Tuesday the field of Republican contenders for the White House in 2016 shows a party with diverse viewpoints and different ideas that’s ready to offer an alternative to the Democratic Party.

Santorum said he still is weighing whether to run. The former senator from Pennsylvania was one of several Republicans to vie for the party’s nomination for president in 2012. He visited the New York state Capitol Tuesday to address a conservative gathering.

“I encourage lots of voices to come out,” he told reporters. “The Democratic Party in recent times has been sort of monolithic. The Republican Party has real diversity and really different ideas.”

Other potential GOP candidates include Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and one New Yorker: former Gov. George Pataki.

Weighing in on New York politics, Santorum criticized Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent decision to ban hydraulic fracturing for natural gas – which he said was an economic boon in Pennsylvania. He said there’s room in New York for Republicans who offer a different perspective than Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“The governor, the mayor have their agendas … hard-left agendas,” he said. “You’re seeing the consequences.”

Speaking at the New Yorker’s Family Research Foundation event at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center, Santorum urged the audience not to give up on conservative ideals “behind enemy lines” in heavily Democratic New York state.

“The time is now, the front is here and the soldiers are you,” he said.