Political support for Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul is gaining momentum as calls for Governor Cuomo to resign over sexual harassment allegations increase.
In a twist of poetic justice, Hochul would become the state’s first female governor and 57 overall.
Hochul, 62, has largely remained out of the public eye since she was elected along with Cuomo, starting with his second term. In fact, she was not mentioned at all in his public agenda during the height of the pandemic last spring, and his book on the COVID-19 crisis did not mention her.
But on Friday, she took center stage in getting the vaccine alongside the president of the NAACP in her hometown of Buffalo, in what could be seen as a counterbalance to Cuomo’s performance at the Javits Center on Monday, flanked by black clergy. Hochul posed for the cameras at Catholic Health and flexed her biceps, a la Rosie the Riveter.
In a departure from tradition – and a sign that she may already be moving away from Cuomo – the media were informed of the occurrence through Hochul’s own news agency. Usually, the governor’s office sends out schedules for both.
The 59 lawmakers who issued a statement on Thursday asking Cuomo to resign – after allegations that he reached under an aide’s blouse in the governor’s mansion last year and touched her – expressed support for Hochul.
“We have a Lieutenant Governor who can act and lead for the remainder of the term, and this is what’s best for New Yorkers at this critical time,” they wrote.
Mayor candidate and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams echoed the sentiment in a statement: “I trust Lieutenant Governor Hochul to lead the budget process and our Attorney General to conduct a thorough investigation.”
Fordham Law Professor Zephyr Teachout, who ran against Cuomo and Hochul in 2014, gave Hochul a boost in a statement calling on Cuomo to resign.
“Cuomo should resign and Kathy Hochul, whom I campaigned against and voted against in primaries … should be the governor,” she tweeted Friday afternoon. ‘He cannot be trusted. He lies, teases and chases away talent. He has betrayed the confidence of the people of New York. “
A spokesman for Mayor de Blasio – who publicly supported Hochul when she first ran with Cuomo in 2014 – also spoke of the prospect of Hochul becoming the leader of the state.
“Andrew Cuomo has made multiple allegations of sexual assault and harassment… Kathy Hochul doesn’t,” said Bill Neidhardt.
Hochul has said she supports an independent investigation of Cuomo by Attorney General Letitia James, but he did not call on Cuomo to step aside.
The potential succession would be comparable to that of a former governor. Elliot Spitzer’s resignation in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal. Dan-Lt. Gov. David Paterson intervened for the remainder of his tenure – a job admittedly a quantum leap from being second in command.
He once joked that for the job of Lieutenant Governor, he “ had to wake up very early and call the governor’s private line. If he answers, go back to sleep, your job is done. “
Hochul was first elected as a board member of the city of Hamburg in the 1980s. She was elected a congressman for the 26th district, which included Buffalo, in 2011.
Hochul met her husband, Bill, a former US attorney for the Western District of New York, who was an intern at the Assembly while studying at Syracuse University.
Hochul has stood up for women’s issues – she leads the state campaign ‘Enough is Enough’ against sexual assault on college campuses – and has spoken of her familiarity with navigating testosterone-filled political waters.
“I know what it’s like to be the only woman in a room. And to make these people talk about you and think you don’t matter. That has been most of my career as an elected official for over 25 years, ”Hochul told NY1 in November.
“So it makes you more difficult, but it also makes you want to reach out for the next generation of young women and involve them so they want to participate too.”