Posted on 05/21/2014 1:25:54 PM PDT by mikrofon
Kathleen C. Hochul, a former member of Congress and Erie County clerk with a reputation as a personable politician and strong campaigner, is Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s choice to run for lieutenant governor.
Hochul, 55, would replace Robert Duffy, the former mayor of Rochester, who opted not to seek a second term as lieutenant governor.
“This should be another big boost for Buffalo,” Cuomo said. “This is a big deal to have a lieutenant governor from your town.”
After months of speculation, Cuomo this afternoon made his selection known to the delegates attending the convention here that Hochul will be running with him in the general election against Republican Rob Astorino and his running mate, Chemung County Sheriff Chris Moss.
Long associated with mere ceremonial duties, the job of lieutenant governor took on renewed attention in New York when David Paterson was elevated from second-in-command to governor in 2008 following the resignation of Eliot Spitzer, who became embroiled in a prostitution scandal.
Cuomo noted that Hochul will be the first female lieutenant governor candidate for the Democrats in 35 years. The governor’s selection of a woman comes as many female lawmakers have been urging him to step up his lobbying at the Capitol with the state Senate to get passed a 10-point women’s agenda, which includes expansion of abortion rights.
“The lieutenant governor is an important position for the campaign but even more important for this great state. Kathy is a person who knows upstate New York, knows Western New York, knows the federal government, who has worked in the private sector and knows business, who knows New York’s needs across the board,” Cuomo said.
If Cuomo defeats Astorino in the November election, Hochul will assume what’s reputed to be one of the toughest jobs in Albany.
Cuomo has frequently dispatched Duffy to the far ends of the state to appear at events and take on special projects, leaving Duffy exhausted. Confirming earlier this month that he will not seek a second term, Duffy complained of the leg and back pain he was suffering from many long drives across the state, and he said the job was taking time away from his family.
Hochul will almost certainly be an energetic presence if she becomes lieutenant governor. Dating back to her days as an undergraduate student at Syracuse, where she led a failed attempt to name the Carrier Dome over college football legend Ernie Davis, she’s had a reputation as a hard worker who’s adept at working with others to achieve her goals.
Democratic Party insiders for weeks have been dismissing the prospects of Hochul, with a number of them saying – almost in a chorus – that she could be “too independent” to serve as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor. Duffy, who recently said he would not run again, said he found the job physically painful – the hours in a state car driving around such a big state took a toll on his bad back – and kept him away from his family in the Rochester area for too many days each week.
Hochul’s selection comes after Cuomo has spent much time in Western New York the past couple years. He’s put special attention toward the area through programs such as his Buffalo Billion plan, which would drive $1 billion in special economic development aid to a region he maintains has been ignored by the state for decades.
Four years ago, Cuomo lost all eight Western New York counties in his successful run against Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino.
Hochul’s name was among at least a dozen floated by either Democrats, analysts or reporters, but Cuomo, a political master at keeping secrets with his close inner circle of advisers, remained mum throughout the past weeks.
Others that Cuomo considered as a replacement for Duffy included Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown, Suffolk County Executive Steve Ballone and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, a Republican.
Duffy, the outgoing lieutenant governor, praised Cuomo’s selection of Hochul and said it bodes well for upstate. Had Cuomo gone with someone downstate, the Democrats would have certainly been blasted by Republicans for having an all-downstate ticket.
“As a lifelong upstate [resident] and someone who has lobbied for upstate in my previous career as mayor, I know how important it is to get upstate’s needs in the forefront of Albany,” Duffy told The Buffalo News at the party’s convention in Melville. “Having the next lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, coming from Western New York means a great deal because she understands the issues facing upstate, she’s served in Congress, she’s been in the business community, and she’s been elected to local office in Erie County.”
Cuomo’s choice of Hochul revives a political career that stalled when she lost her congressional re-election bid to former Erie County Executive Chris Collins, a Republican, in a newly redrawn and heavily Republican district in 2012.
Hochul – who is married to William Hochul, U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York – graduated from Syracuse University and then worked as a congressional aide and a lawyer. She later served as Erie County clerk, where she worked to streamline the office’s services to make them more consumer-friendly.
Hochul quickly won a reputation in Washington as a hard-charging lawmaker with a penchant for attracting media coverage, but that did her only so much good when redistricting made her district more strongly Republican.
After leaving the House in January 2013, Hochul took a position with M&T Bank, where she has been working to build relationships with local, state and federal officials.
Before her term in Congress, she served as Erie County clerk from 2007 to 2011. Before that, she worked on the staffs of former U.S. Rep. John J. LaFalce and former U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a law degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Just minutes before The News learned Cuomo was selecting Hochul, Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a Buffalo Democrat whom Cuomo tapped earlier in the afternoon to be his campaign co-chairwoman, said she had no idea who the governor was selecting to be his running mate.
“I do not. I could speculate like everyone else here,” Peoples-Stokes said at the party’s convention on Long Island.
Mario's spawn throws a bone to Western New York by selecting a popular "independent" Democrat from the area as the Lieutenant Governor candidate during their current State Convention. Hochul's claim to fame here was running a competent Bureau of Motor Vehicles and political even-handedness, although when she reached the House she fell in line with Nazi Pelosi's marching orders quite easily. Her husband is the ranking U.S. Attorney in the local District.
This is the lying sack who butt kissed Obama and then went on TV and LIED HER ASS OFF saying the exact opposite and hwo she would ‘fight Obama’
Seems a great fit.
Hahahaha!
Have you ever tried to boost a buffalo? Good luck with that!
FMCDH(BITS)
As I mentioned on another thread, she supported Cuomo’s (un)SAFE Act after the NRA endorsed her in 2012. She’s just another disingenuous politician.
Not only is she so STRONGLY against our 2nd A rights, she is also STRONGLY against 1st A rights when she supported Obamacare mandate to force religious institutions to cover contraceptions.
Also keep in mind that the left calls aboution-inducing drugs contraceptives.
By denying school districts promised funding, residents will receive property tax rebates... which should help to fund the school budget adjustments suffering from the denied funding...
The thief returns the wallet and declares hero status.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.