New York Lieutenant Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to replace Gov. Andrew Cuomo when he stands down in 14 days. She will be the first female governor in the state's 233-year history
Andrew Cuomo's resignation as governor of New York after a series of sexual misconduct accusations has turned a spotlight on his lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, who will become the first woman to lead the state in its 233-year history.
Hochul, 62, a former Democratic congresswoman, has served as lieutenant governor since 2015, and will take on the role of governor in 14 days when Cuomo stands down until his third four-year term in office ends in December 2022.
The granddaughter of Irish immigrants who founded a center for domestic abuse system and advocates for a $15 minimum wage in her state, Hochul has taken a quiet backseat to her boss's very public profile after being cherry-picked by him in 2014.
Upon his resignation, she vowed to take the reins of the state.
'I agree with Governor Cuomo's decision to step down,' she tweeted shortly after his announcement.
'It is the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers. As someone who has served at all levels of government and is next in the line of succession, I am prepared to lead as New York State’s 57th Governor.'
Hochul won her first major elected role in a 2011 special election to replace Rep. Chris Lee, her married male colleague who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist.
Hochul was handpicked by Cuomo in 2014 to stand as his running mate
Hochul said she ready to take over as head of the New York state government shortly after Cuomo's resignation announcement Tuesday
She had run in the upstate race as a more conservative candidate and was once endorsed by the NRA.
She was endorsed again in the 2012 general election, when running against Republican Chris Collins, but lost.
Previously, In 2007, when she was the Erie County Clerk she went against the then Governor Elliot Spitzer's effort to give all undocumented migrants driver's licenses.
Before that, she served 14 years as a councilmember in Hamburg, a town just south of Buffalo.
Hochul was chosen by Cuomo in 2014, to replace former Lieutenant Gov. Lieutenant-Governor Robert Duff, who said he would not seek another term.
Hochul was re-elected along with Cuomo in 2018.
In her role as lieutenant governor, she chairs 10 economic development councils that invest in projects across the state.
She co-chairs a task force to combat heroin and opioid abuse, and also led Cuomo's 'Enough is Enough' campaign in 2015 to combat sexual assault on college campuses.
Hochul grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father once so poor that his family had to live in a trailer until he became a successful businessman.
She graduated from Syracuse University in 1980, and earned her law degree from Catholic University in Washington in 1984.
She has served Cuomo loyally, but this week, after State Attorney General Letitia James found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him.
Hochul addressed the crowd after her and Cuomo's reelection in 2018. She had remained loyal to her boss until the past week
She would finally condemn Cuomo after the findings by the state attorney general last week that he had sexually harassed 11 women
'The AG’s investigation has documented repulsive & unlawful behavior by the Governor towards multiple women. I believe these brave women & admire their courage coming forward.
'No one is above the law. Under the New York Constitution, the Assembly will now determine the next steps.
In 2011, Hochul replaced Rep. Chris Lee who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist despite being married
'Because Lieutenant Governors stand next in the line of succession, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the process at this moment,' she tweeted.
Her husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six - six American men who joined al-Qaeda.
He is now a private attorney but was previously the United States attorney for the Western District of New York from 2010 to 2016.
The pair live in Buffalo in a $800,000, three-bedroom apartment, according to public records.
Their children are in their early 30s. Katie, or Caitlin, works for PR firm Concepts Inc whose past clients include The Gates Foundation and the Justice Department.
Her son, William Hochul III, is a DC lawyer.
Unlike Cuomo - whose father was also governor, and who grew up in wealth and New York society - Hochul's family are Irish immigrants.
Hochul's husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six - six American men who joined al-Qaeda. They live in Buffalo together
On her public bio, she recounts how her mother and father once lived in a trailer on the grounds of the steel plant where her father worked in Buffalo.
She describes herself as 'progressive' and is keenly pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ rights. Hochul is well-liked upstate, where Cuomo's popularity has evaporated.
'She is probably one of the most down-to-earth people that you could ever meet,' Assemblywoman Karen McMahon, whose district encompasses the Town of Amherst in Erie County upstate, told Politico recently.
'She’s gone to great heights in government, yet one-to-one, she is so accessible and so warm and just a very generous person. She’s always able to help — particularly women, too.'
'She works hard, she listens to people, she cares. In any state, you want for your lieutenant governor somebody who can do the job of governor. It doesn’t always happen, but in Kathy Hochul’s case she has the ability to do the job if it comes to it,' Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan told The Wall Street Journal.
