Kathy Hochul Wins New York Governor’s Race!

Kathy Hochul Wins New York Governor’s Race: CNN predicts that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York will be elected to her first full term in office, defeating Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin and becoming the state’s first elected female governor.

With Hochul’s victory, New York Democrats are still on course to continue their statewide winning streak, which has now lasted almost two decades.  Hochul, a native of Buffalo, took over the top position in August 2021 after Andrew Cuomo, the three-term governor who was facing impeachment due to a sexual harassment controversy, resigned.

Hochul and Cuomo were never particularly close, even though she served as his lieutenant governor, and she worked fast to rid the state of his loyalists after gaining office. Hochul will make history as the first woman to be elected governor of New York, having previously served in that position. You may also check, Josh Shapiro Defeats Doug Mastriano.

Zeldin, a conservative supporter of US President Donald Trump, ran a “law and order” campaign that was primarily concerned with concerns about growing crime and a 2019 criminal justice reform bill that made it more challenging for judges to hold suspects in pre-trial detention.

He also tapped into working-class concerns over environmental initiatives like a plan to raise fees for cars entering heavily trafficked areas of the city and frustration over the state of the economy, which has been slow to recover in and around New York City following the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hochul hammered Zeldin throughout the race over his anti-abortion views and vote in Congress against certifying President Joe Biden’s election. Hochul increased her political outreach in New York City in the latter stages of the campaign, where Democrats typically need about 70% of the vote to assure statewide victory.

BREAKING: Democrat Kathy Hochul wins re-election in New York governor’s race, NBC News projects. https://t.co/u1KKh82rIW pic.twitter.com/f82U5SFinE

— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 9, 2022

Like another blue state Republican, Zeldin insisted time and time again that he had no plans to alter New York’s abortion laws, where Democrats had already passed several stringent safeguards for clients and abortion providers both before and after the Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe was leaked.

Zeldin, however, broke his word by telling an anti-abortion group that he would pick a state health commissioner with similar views who would have major policymaking authority. While he took things back, he drew a line when asked if he would support supporting Planned Parenthood in his lone debate with Hochul.

Final Lines