Meet the gubernatorial candidates: Kathy Hochul

News 12's Tara Rosenblum is taking a look at the candidates hoping to become the next governor of New York, and today's focus turns to incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul.

News 12 Staff

May 16, 2022, 11:40 AM

Updated 871 days ago

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News 12's Tara Rosenblum is taking a look at the candidates hoping to become the next governor of New York, and today's focus turns to incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Gov. Hochul is running for her first full term in office. She is facing two Democratic challengers in the primary - Rep. Tom Suozzi and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
Hochul shattered New York's political glass ceiling when she assumed the role of governor last year, just a few weeks after joining News 12 for a wide-ranging hourlong interview, covering topics like the #MeToo movement. She says she too is a victim. “Uncomfortable close touching. I was a teenager working in a restaurant, and I didn't know I had any rights. So, you put up with a lot and at the time you don't even think about it, you just, you know, you just kind of smile and move on.”
Shortly after that interview, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo became embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal of his own, propelling Hochul into the governor’s mansion.
Now in order to stay governor, she'll have to win a primary and general election battle, with a new running mate from the Hudson Valley. Hochul selected Rep. Anthony Delgado as her new No. 2 after Brian Benjamin was arrested on federal fraud charges. “I assure you, had we known this, we would have made a different decision at that time.”
In her first sit-down interview of the campaign trail, Hochul says she's never been one to back down from a fight and is proud of the cultural change of her administration. “We just have a very different philosophy. We don't put people to the ringer. We just say, you know what, we're all on the same team. It's not about whom gets credit. It's about getting the work done.”
She also opened up about her time in office so far. "It is so rewarding when I can show up at a place when people have had so many years of struggle. I think of Mount Vernon. I was there just a week or two a week ago. And when I think about the fact that we're able to help deliver $150 million to a community that has endured discrimination and a wanton disregard for their needs when people living there for 22 years had raw sewage coming up through their homes."
“It was difficult when we learned about a subway shooting. I'm a mother. And when I sense that someone is fearful and feeling that anxiety, I go to help heal, That's why I went to the hospital and consoled a woman - an Asian mother - who was waiting a word to see her 16-year-old son, was going to lose his hand. And I had the longest hug with her I've ever had my life."
If you missed any of News 12’s coverage on the Republican candidates, click here.