Kathy Hochul became New York’s first female governor

Kathy Hochul became New York’s first female governor on Tuesday, inheriting immense challenges as she takes charge of an administration criticized for inaction during Andrew Cuomo’s distracted final months in power.

Hochul, a Democrat and former congressman from western New York, was sworn in just after midnight in a brief private event overseen by the state’s chief justice, Janet DiFiore.

An oath-taking ceremony was scheduled for Tuesday morning at the New York State Capitol, with more pomp than the brief legally required event overnight. Hochul scheduled a public address at 3 p.m.

“I feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulders and I will tell New Yorkers that I am up to the task. And I am really proud to be able to serve as governor and I will not let them down,” Hochul said. told one of her Buffalo TV stations, WGRZ, as she left the Capitol early Tuesday morning.

Over the next few months, Hochul, who was a little-known figure as lieutenant governor, will have the opportunity to reshape the way power works in Albany, where Cuomo dominated decision-making for years before being shot. in a sexual harassment scandal.

For generations, it has been said that all real decisions in state government are made by “three men in one room,” the governor and the leaders of the State Senate and Assembly.

Now, for the first time in the state’s history, two of those three – Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins ​​- are women. Only the State Assembly is headed by a man, President Carl Heastie.

Cuomo stepped down at midnight, two weeks after announcing he would step down rather than face an impeachment battle that seemed inevitable after a report from independent investigators, overseen by Attorney General Letitia James, concluded that he sexually harassed 11 women.

On the last day of his tenure, Cuomo released a pre-recorded farewell speech in which he again declared he was innocent and introduced himself as the victim of a “media frenzy.”

Hochul is taking over with the state which still faces recurring crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the coming weeks, she is expected to make decisions about requiring masks to be worn for children returning to school – something she has previously said she favors.

She will be under pressure to get the federal rent relief money into the hands of tenants. Few of the $ 2 billion set aside by the federal government to help New Yorkers pay off rent debt has so far been distributed in the state, and thousands face eviction if the state allows expiration of protections.

And Hochul faces the question of whether she will change the culture of governance in New York City, where many other top Democrats have, for years, complained about being excluded from key decisions and harassed by Cuomo.

Former Governor David Paterson, who like Hochul unexpectedly became governor when his predecessor resigned, has said she will need to restore confidence in the office.

“There is going to be some pressure on Governor Hochul, as there has been on me, to kind of restore the values ​​and restore the conduct and decorum that speak of a governor,” Paterson said.

She will also have to work quickly. Hochul has previously said she intends to run for a full term next year and will only have a few months to establish herself as the frontrunner before a Democratic primary in the spring.

In the meantime, she will be building an administration – a task that began early Tuesday with the oath of office.

DiFiore was sworn in in front of a stone fireplace in a room in the Capitol, on top of which were placed family photos.

Hochul, her husband, Bill Hochul, and DiFiore entered the room with masks, removing them at the start of the ceremony. Hochul placed her hand on a bible held by her smiling husband, a former federal prosecutor and current general counsel for the Buffalo Delaware North-based catering and hospitality company.

Hochul signed a stack of papers – including the oath – using a set of ten pens dated “August 24, 2021,” as her family stood behind her to watch her. She then thanked the individual members of her staff and told them that she would see them tomorrow before leaving the room.