During a noon press conference Governor Cuomo resigned from office, an act that will officially occur in 14 days time. The 14 day window was stated to be done in such a way as to allow Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul time to get moving as Governor.
So, who is Kathy Hochul?
Hochul is a long time Democratic party member who, immediately out of law school, moved to D.C. to begin working in a private firm. This was short in duration as her political aspirations got the best of her. She began legal work for long time Democrat Representative Jon LaFalce of New York, and Democrat Senator Pat Moynihan. She was molded by the Democratic Party Machine in D.C. and is a tried and true party member.
Hochul served 2007-2011 as 8th County Clerk of Erie County in New York. Her time there was less than impressive and upon leaving in 2011 it was found that the Clerks Office had an unprecedented backlog of over $790,000. Following up this less than stellar performance, Hochul won the 2011 Special Election for New York’s 26th Congressional District. There was only 1 problem standing in the way. She wasn’t a resident of the district and the people their didn’t feel represented by an outsider. But, for those that are a part of the machine concerns of the elected are no barrier. She moved to the district about a month after the election as the Party ran cover and the controversy was buried in short order.
In 2011 a first term member of the US House of Representatives, Hochul was the 5th largest recipient of EMILYS List funds, a Pro-Abortion group. She was also an advocate of Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and even made the statement that government was "not looking to the Constitution" on whether Obama Care was legal, or that religious requirement exemptions were met.
Hochul’s Committee assignments have included:
After her time in Congress, Hochul was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor on January 1, 2015. Her biggest roles as Lt. Governor have included:
Chair of the10 Regional Economic Development Councils
Chair of the Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Abuse and Addiction
Spearheaded Cuomo's "Enough is Enough" campaign to combat sexual assault on college campuses
In 2018 Hochul supported legislation to provide driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants
This was a position she opposed in 2007 as Clerk, going as far as stating that she would seek to have any such applicants arrested if the proposal was implemented.
Hochul also served as the Liason to New York's federal representatives in Washington, D.C
As Hochul is a true Democrat and Party member at core, I expect we see her as a Pelosi-esque figure in New York politics for some time to come. Afterall, she backed Pelosi spending bills and has often come out in support of Pelosi’s abilities as a leader in the Democrat Party. Hochul is smart, aggressive, and knows the inner workings of government inside and out. She has enough backing within the party to be effective in implementing strategic democratic party action, and her background in Homeland Security and Terrorism positions her perfectly for advanced measures against New Yorkers pertaining to any future COVID Lockdowns, current restrictions, and their already implemented Vaccine Passports. I don’t expect the party misses a beat here and in fact, may work out in favor of Democrat Party wishes as Cuomo was a strong, often difficult to wrangle King of his own domain. Now that Hochul is at the helm, I expect we see the party have a bit more control over the individual guiding the ship.
Cultural Husbandry, 1776/2021