BUFFALO – As Governor Andrew M. Cuomo faces the biggest political crisis of his career, amid several allegations of sexual harassment and growing demands for his resignation, New Yorkers are becoming more curious about Lieutenant Government Kathy Hochul, who would replace him if he were no longer in office.
Mr. Cuomo denied that he had behaved improperly and repeatedly ignored the calls to resign, but he lost the day with the support of more leaders in his party, and state lawmakers opened an indictment. As mnr. Cuomo would resign or be removed from office, Hochul would become the first woman in history to serve as governor of New York.
Me. Hochul, from the Buffalo area, is an advocate for training and briefly serves as a member of Congress. Mr. Cuomo chose her as his running mate in 2014, and she won two nationwide elections for the role. She thrived on retail campaigns and spent much of her time as a lieutenant governor away from Albany and traveling through the state.
If she were to accept the governorship soon, she would face a series of urgent legislative deliberations and responsibilities, including negotiating budgets, guiding New York through its vaccination program and managing its economic recovery.
The controversies surrounding Mr. Cuomo has left the Democrats bitterly divided so far, and Hochul, 62, would also be asked to help heal the state.
This is what you need to know about me. Hochul.
She is no stranger to politics …
Me. Hochul, who grew up in an Irish Catholic family in western New York that is experiencing economic hardship, graduated from Syracuse University and received a law degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. After a period at a law firm, Ms. Hochul turned to the government and assisted then-Representative John J. LaFalce and then-Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
“Especially at the time, I realized what great political skills she had when she would travel with me,” he said. LaFalce remembers. “She’s a people person.”
When she returned to New York after her time on Capitol Hill, she acted through a series of local positions, including a position on Hamburg City Council, a western New York enclave, and later to the role of the clerk of Erie County.
In 2011, me. Hochul won a special congressional election in a relatively conservative district that spanned Buffalo to Rochester, which successfully made the race a referendum on the Republican plans to revamp Medicare at the time and show skill as a campaigner. But after the redistribution toppled the site even more Republican, she lost her 2012 re-election bid.
Me. Hochul subsequently served as Vice President of Government Relations at M&T Bank Corporation, and in 2014, Mr. Cuomo named her as his running mate during his first re-election campaign. She replaces Robert J. Duffy, who during his first term as lieutenant governor for Mr. Cuomo served.
Me. Hochul won re-election to the position in 2018 and defeated Jumaane D. Williams, now the New York Public Advocate, by less than seven percentage points. New Yorkers vote separately for governor and lieutenant governor, rather than as part of a ticket, and me. Hochul has won more provinces across the state than Mr. Cuomo, although he won his own by-election by about 30 percentage points.
… but she’s hardly an Albany match.
If vice presidents have historically complained about being marginalized in Washington, lieutenant governors tend to make it worse.
It is not thought that Mr. Cuomo, who once declared: ‘I am the government’, a personal or working relationship with me. Hochul did not.
The lieutenant governor spent much of her time on the road, emphasizing the agenda of the administration and embarking on extensive politics on the ground.
“She made her all the time in the seat of lieutenant governor like an opportunity for a nationwide campaign,” said State Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat in Manhattan.
Through this process and her efforts to promote especially women who elect candidates, Ms. Hochul built something of her own network that was important in her re-election campaign and that will be crucial for future offers for the office. If she becomes the sitting governor, people close to her say, she will be re-elected next year.
She has roots as a political moderate.
Me. Hochul adopted the agenda of the Cuomo government, which has moved further to the left in recent years, and she emphasized a number of policy priorities, including economic development and issues of gender equality.
But as a clerk from the Erie province, Ms. Hochul in part made a name for himself by vehemently opposing attempts to offer driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. She later changed her mind, but this is one of several positions from the past that illustrate her roots as a fairly conservative Democrat.
She unequivocally ran as a moderate Democrat in her special election.
“She was a right-of-center candidate in a far-right-of-center district,” said former New York Representative Steve Israel, then chairman of the Democratic Congress Campaign Committee.
“She proposed as an independent, not willing to approach the party line, but she also had a way of making contact with progressive voters on fundamental issues such as choice and the environment,” he said. Israel said. “She could weave the two in a district that looks a lot like America today.”
On a personal level, it seems that Ms. Hochul is very well held by legislators across the ideological spectrum, and she has pointed to building a wide range of relationships. But she will probably be skeptical of leftists, both if she becomes governor and if she chooses to run for office again.
She is a product of Western New York, and her rise would make history.
Me. Hochul grew up in the Buffalo area, former President Barack Obama nominated her husband to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, and her friendly, approachable attitude and Buffalo accent evoke a style that is more Midwest is like in Manhattan. . Then Mr. Cuomo calls her after the ticket, it is seen that she adds some geographical and gender diversity.
On the land in her hometown, there is considerable respect for me. Hochul, at least among those familiar with her work.
“She’s a very hard worker – I think she’s one of the most hard-working elected officials in the state of New York,” said Sean Mulligan, 47, a local government official who was with his young daughter outside a restaurant near the water stood. “She will be able to play the role well. And to have a female governor? We are in arrears for that. ”
Many states have never had a female governor – and while Ms. Hochul could go up to the role under awkward circumstances, a female CEO of one of the largest states in the country would probably feel very New Yorkers.
What happens next?
Mr. Cuomo indicated at a news conference on Friday that he did not intend to resign, although he was under increasing pressure from a congressional delegation that had previously remained largely silent. The Assembly has approved the start of an indictment, although many steps will have to be taken, even if Mr. Cuomo charged, including a Senate trial and a vote to convict, before being removed.
As mnr. Cuomo removed or resigned, Ms. Hochul becomes the governor. She would also serve as acting governor during an indictment.
Me. Hochul, for her part, said little about the allegations against Cuomo, except that she supported the independent investigation into the allegations of sexual harassment.
Instead, she spent her Friday outside of public opinion, with one exception: she streamed her Covid-19 vaccine alive.