With Gov. Andrew Cuomo facing possible impeachment over sexual harassment allegations, her next stop may be the state Capitol of Albany.
If Cuomo was removed, Hochul would be the first female governor of the state.
A centrist Democrat from western New York, she has worked deep in Cuomo’s shadow for her two terms in office, but this week joined the chorus of politicians denouncing the governor after an independent investigation concluded he had sexually harassed 11 women while in office.
Hochul wrote “I believe these brave ladies”, calling Cuomo’s behavior “repulsive” and “illegal” in a Tuesday statement.
She also admitted to what had been simmering for months: the possibility that she will be elected governor.
She wrote, “Because lieutenant governors are next in the succession line, it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment more on the process at the moment.”
Hochul, who has been in the job since 2015, is a little-known figure to New Yorkers. In late July, Hochul shared her plans for job training in Utica and discussed manufacturing in Rome with the mayor of Cazenovia.
It has not been anything like Cuomo’s attention-grabbing appearances. He does most of his business out of Albany and New York City, and his daily coronavirus briefings are a national event at the height coronavirus.
Hochul was not part of Cuomo’s inner circle of aides or allies. In the investigative report released by Attorney General Letitia Jam, Hochul’s name was not mentioned. It detailed the harassment allegations against Cuomo as well as the efforts of his staff to discredit some accusers.
Hochul, 62, is an experienced politician. She has been a part of 11 campaigns that took her from the town board to Congress. Hochul represents a conservative district in western New York after a surprise 2011 victory in a special election to fill a vacancy at the U.S. House.
Jacob Neiheisel from the University at Buffalo, an associate professor of political science, said that “pragmatic” would be a good description. “Someone who can read tea leaves and find out where her constituents are.”
Hochul’s office turned down an interview request.
Hochul was born to a steelworker and worked as a lawyer in Washington before she held her first public office on the Hamburg town board, near Buffalo.
She was elected Erie County Clerk from there. In 2007, she stood against a plan of the then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer will allow undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licences. Hochul and another west New York clerk looked into a plan for police to arrest anyone who attempted to apply.
“It will be a deterrent, and that’s what I’m looking for,” Hochul told The Buffalo News at the time.
She then moved to Congress where she won a surprise win in a special election held in an area that had been Republican-controlled for many decades. A year later, she lost her bid to reelect Republican Chris Collins, despite being supported by the National Rifle Association. Collins later resigned from the U.S. House and pleaded guilty to insider trading.
After Robert Duffy, his first lieutenant governor and former Rochester Mayor, decided to not run for reelection, Hochul moved to the right politically.
She supported New York’s SAFE Act which is one of the most severe gun control laws in the country, and the state’s Green Light Law which allows unauthorized immigrants to get driver’s licences.
Hochul has not stated publicly whether she would seek a full term in 2022, if she was to take over the role.
A candidate from upstate New York for any state office faces a difficult challenge. This is especially true for the governor’s position, which historically draws heavily from New York City.
Neiheisel stated that, given her track record, it is hard to predict what a “distinctly Hochul Agenda” might look like. This is especially true when you consider the state’s still active pandemic response, and a recovery that will require billions in federal aid.
Neiheisel stated that “Given her history in the news cycle she really doesn’t think she’s got the kind of name recognition you would expect from someone suddenly thrust into a role of perhaps being governor”, “She’s going have to do an awfully lot, really quickly, in order to have a serious discussion for keeping that job.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke Wednesday at a press conference. Cuomo has a notoriously contentious relationship. He said that he’s had the opportunity to get to know Hochul in recent years and “she strikes him as a very reasonable individual.”
He said, “I believe that Kathy Hochul will be an honest broker if she becomes governor.” “We will be able to cooperate.”
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, Buffalo’s county comptroller, worked with Hochul while she was Erie County Clerk. He claimed that he was able to see Hochul easily entering the governor’s chair.
He said, “It’s fair to assume that if that happened, we certainly would still have a friend at Albany.”
