As of 12:01 this morning, New York has a new governor. Kathy Hocul, an upstate politician who served as Lt. Governor under Andrew Cuomo during his second and third terms becomes the first female governor of the state.
Much like Kirsten Gillibrand, Hocul was elected to Congress from a fairly conservative upstate district in 2011 in a special election to replace a Republican accused of sexual impropriety. After losing following redistricting, she became Cuomo's running mate in his second run for governor. She has moved far to the left of her original political views as she ran statewide campaigns. It remains to be seen how she will act as governor in blue state NY.
It is really not a tough act to follow. Cuomo was/is widely reviled in New York. Even before his sexual harassments were revealed, his penchant for hardball politics, often at the expense of the liberal agenda made him a pariah in progressive circles. Hocul starts her time as governor with a honeymoon as politicians on both sides of the aisle try to determine how she will handle the reins of power. As I said, as long as she can avoid scandal, she can hardly do worse than Cuomo. I look forward to a less corrupt New York and hope she can build momentum to run for a full term next year.
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