NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday will address New Yorkers for the first time since becoming Governor Andrew Cuomo’s designated successor, taking a first step to moving the state past the sexual harassment scandal that drove him out of office.
Hochul, who had largely worked in Cuomo’s shadow since being elected lieutenant governor in 2014, has a long career in public service in the state. She served 14 years on an upstate New York town board, was appointed clerk of Erie County, and represented a U.S. congressional district that no Democrat had won for 40 years until her victory in 2011.
As the No. 2 statewide elected official, Hochulwill take over in two weeks from Cuomo, her fellow Democratwho resigned on Tuesday after the state attorney general concluded he had sexually harassed women, creating a hostile workplace.
Her remarks on Wednesday will be streamed live on the New York state website at 2 p.m. ET, according to a press release from the lieutenant governor’s spokesman.
Hochul’s friends and prior colleagues have described her as hands-on, open-minded and professional, with a special passion for environmental issues and combating domestic violence.
With just 16 months left in the outgoing governor’s term, Hochul will soon face the decision of whether to run in the November 2022 election to secure a four-year term at the helm of New York, the fourth most populous U.S. state.
(Reporting by Julia Harte; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
