Kathy Hochul

Kathy Hochul (2017)

Kathleen Courtney "Kathy" Hochul (* 27. August 1958 in Buffalo , New York as Kathleen Courtney ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party , and since August 24, 2021 Governor of the State of New York . She is the first woman in this position. She previously held the post of lieutenant governor from 2015 and took over the post of governor after the resignation of her predecessor Andrew Cuomo . From 2011 to 2013 she represented New York's 26th Congressional constituency in the US House of Representativesas MPs. The lawyer began her political career as a city and district councilor in Hamburg in Erie County .

Career

Previous years and political advancement

Kathleen Courtney, her maiden name, attended Hamburg High School in New York State until 1977 . She then studied at Syracuse University until 1980 . After studying law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and being admitted to the bar in 1983, she began working in this profession. At the same time she embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . From 1984 to 1986 she was on the staff of Congressman John J. LaFalce ; then she worked for US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan until 1988 . Between 2003 and 2007 she was Deputy Clerk in Erie County , after which she was County Clerk until 2011 .

Congressman

Kathy Hochul speaks to President Barack Obama at the White House in June 2011

After the resignation of Republican member of the US House of Representatives Chris Lee Hochul joined the overdue election for the 26 seats of New York against Jane Corwin , a deputy of the New York State Assembly , and sat surprising in the strongly Republican dominated congressional district with 47 to 42 percent of the vote. Hochul conquered the district for the Democrats for the first time in 40 years. Their victory was largely due to the groundwork and resource allocation by the National Congressional Campaign Committee (NCCC), whose executive director Robby Mook had campaigned to support this campaign. On May 24, 2011, she took up her mandate as Lee's successor in the House of Representatives. She was a member of the Armed Forces Committee and the Internal Security Committee and two sub-committees. Since she narrowly defeated her Republican challenger Chris Collins in the next regular election in November 2012 , she left office on January 3, 2013. Previously, the state's constituencies had been reorganized and Hochul's new district was seen as even more conservative than the previous one.

After her previous political career, she became a lobbyist for the largest bank in Buffalo, the M&T Bank , in the spring of 2013 .

Lieutenant Governor of New York

Hochul (center) at a public appearance in 2016

In May 2014, she was elected by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor . Hochul followed the previous lieutenant governor Robert Duffy as running mate Cuomos , who announced that he would not run again at Cuomo's side in the election on November 4, 2014 . After the electoral victory of the democratic duo Cuomo / Hochul, she was sworn in on January 1, 2015 as the state's new lieutenant governor. For the 2018 gubernatorial election, she successfully ran for another term alongside Andrew Cuomo. In the course of the Democratic Primary , which takes place separately for the lieutenant governor's office from that of the governor, she was faced with a serious opposing candidacy from the New York City Council Jumaane Williams . Williams criticized Governor Cuomo's administration for being too center-centered and called for more left-wing politics. During the primary, Williams and actress Cynthia Nixon , who challenged Cuomo, supported each other. In her election campaign, Hochul used her political experience and campaigned for a pragmatic course for the center-left. In the area code at the beginning of September 2018, Williams was able to do significantly better than Nixon against Cuomo due to the high proportion of votes in New York City. Nevertheless, Hochul prevailed with almost 54% against 46% of the votes and was thus again nominated as Running Mate Cuomos. The democratic party leadership in New York and other high-ranking state politicians had previously spoken out in favor of the Cuomo / Hochul duo. Both were able to clearly win the election on November 6, 2018 with 59.6%. Hochul therefore took up her second term as Deputy Governor on January 1, 2019.

As of January 2021, Hochul was the longest-serving serving lieutenant governor in the United States. However, some deputies of a governor were sworn in just a few days after her in 2015. Since then, Governor Cuomo has also been the longest serving head of government in any US state.

Governor of New York

Kathy Hochul when she was sworn in as governor on August 24, 2021

In early August 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation at the end of August 23. Previously, since March of that year, a total of eleven women from his staff and the security team had accused him of sexual harassment . The suspicion had been corroborated by investigations and a final report from New York Attorney General Letitia James . Then who led New York State Assembly an impeachment trial (impeachment) one against the governor, who is also due to alleged manipulations statistics within the COVID-19 pandemic stood in the criticism. Hochul had already distanced himself from her then boss after the publication of the public prosecutor's report and stressed that he was not close to him. According to political observers, she was also not included in the governor's inner circle. After Cuomo's resignation took effect on August 24, Hochul took the oath of office as the 57th governor of New York State. She is the first woman in this position and the first incumbent from Upstate New York since Nathan Lewis Miller in 1922 . Among her most important tasks, she named in particular the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic effects as well as the creation of a different political culture in Albany in contrast to her predecessor, who was repeatedly accused of an authoritarian leadership style. Hochul can rely on majorities of her party in both chambers of the legislature, which should facilitate the implementation of legislative projects.

In the run-up to her assumption of office, Hochul announced that she would quickly fill the office of vice governor. Former governors who moved up from the office of deputy had long refrained from doing so because the state's constitution - unlike other US states - does not provide for this verbatim. In 2009, however, the then governor David Paterson , who came into office through the resignation of his predecessor Eliot Spitzer , invoked his general right to hold executive offices and appointed Richard Ravitch as vice governor. Paterson's decision was upheld by courts against some opposition from other officials, setting a precedent . Against this background, Hochul's possibility of determining her successor in the office of Vice-Governor is no longer disputed. Since Cuomo's resignation, efforts have been made in the State Legislature to codify this into law.

In the days before she took office, Hochul told US media that she wanted to run for a full four-year term in the next regular gubernatorial election in November 2022. The current term of office ends at the turn of the year in 2023.

Private life

Kathy Hochul is married to a former federal attorney for western New York State, William J. Hochul. They have two grown children.

Web links

Commons : Kathy Hochul  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Governor Office (English)
• Kathy Hochul in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Kathy Hochul in the nndb (English)
• Personal Website (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Raymond Hernandez: Kathleen Courtney Hochul. Her Inheritance: An Eagerness to Serve. In: The New York Times , May 29, 2011.
2. ↑ Allissa Kline: M&T Hires Kathy Hochul. In: Buffalo Business First , February 20, 2013 (English).
3. ^ Brian Sharp: Bob Duffy: 'I Made My Decision'. In: DemocratAndChronicle.com , May 7, 2014.
4. ↑ Kathy Hochul Beats Back Challenge From Jumaane Williams in Lieutenant Governor Race , The New York Times, September 14, 2018
5. ↑ Kathy Hochul makes history: Who is New York's first female governor? , ZDF, August 24, 2021
6. ↑ Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to Become New York's First Female Governor , The Wall Street Journal, August 10, 2021
7. ↑ Senator pushes to clarify lieutant governor appointment , News10 ABC, August 10, 2021
8. ↑ Incoming New York governor Kathy Hochul will enter 2022 gubernatorial race , The Washington Post, August 12, 2021