NY’s Hochul Faces Last Chance to Show She’s Not a Drag on Democrats
(Bloomberg Government) -- Joy does not describe the Democratic National Convention that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul experienced.
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There was the flubbed opening line in her prime-time speech that became a punchline for comedian Stephen Colbert: “Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris the first president of the United States?”
It might have been forgotten as a one-off coming from someone else, but this was the type of embarrassment Hochul has experienced with some regularity during her three years leading the Empire State. There was a gaffe in May about Black children in the Bronx not knowing the word ‘computer.’ Weeks before that, she justified the Israeli military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks with a joke about the U.S. carpet-bombing Canada.
She’s struggled to project control in Albany while missing budget deadlines, and caught members of her own administration flatfooted in June by suddenly scuttling plans to toll drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street. Hochul has yet to explain how else she’d raise $1 billion per year to save New York City’s subways. The Sept. 3 federal arrest of former aide Linda Sun, who is accused of acting as an unregistered agent of the mainland Chinese government, cast another unflattering light on her administration.
This history has some Democrats wary of the role Hochul has in congressional races that could determine which party controls the House next year — none more so than former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She has blamed Hochul for the GOP winning the chamber in 2022, by ignoring GOP attacks on crime until the final days of her own closer-than-expected race, and hasn’t let up since, including at the DNC.
Hochul has a plan to make her Pelosi-powered problems go away by winning back up to five US House seats in the Empire State from the GOP while protecting vulnerable Democratic incumbents. If it doesn’t work, the embattled governor will have lost her best chance to mute the San Francisco power broker and other Democrats who view the Buffalo native as a political klutz. (Pelosi couldn’t be reached for comment for this article.)
“We’re doing old school politics here in New York because I know it better than anybody,” Hochul, who became governor after Andrew Cuomo’s 2021 resignation, said in a July interview. “It’s raising money, supporting the candidates, calling on them — ‘whatever you need’ — I talk to them to find out.”
Hochul can certainly raise money. She amassed a record $60 million for her 2022 gubernatorial campaign and has provided $3 million out of the $5 million goal for a joint effort with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, according to a Hochul spokesperson.
That money has helped the state party open 36 field offices, hire 83 staff, who were part of an overall effort that has knocked on 170,000 doors on behalf of Democratic Reps. Pat Ryan and Tom Suozzi as well as challengers to GOP Reps. Nick LaLota, Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, and Brandon Williams.
She’s also helped county parties raise their political game, including in Molinaro’s backyard where the Hudson Valley’s Columbia County raised $100,000 with one gubernatorial appearance alone. “I’ve never seen this much investment by the state party,” Sam Hodge, chair of the county Democratic Party, said. “At this point in the campaign, we’ve knocked on more doors than in all of 2022.”
Another notable departure from Hochul’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign is the coordination with labor groups—New York has the highest unionization rate of any state besides Hawaii — such as 1199SEIU on behalf of the House candidates.
Hochul also had some successes in the legislative session that ended in June, notably on housing and online privacy for children. Even the DNC wasn’t a total disaster considering the elevated attention she received from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump after she criticized him in her speech.
But a Siena College poll two weeks later found just 38% of registered voters have a favorable view of her compared to 49% who don’t — a record low. Republican candidates aim to make her as much a liability as an asset for fellow Democrats.
“Kathy Hochul is seen as a feckless and inept governor, and so certainly she’s welcome to come campaign any day of the week,” said Lawler, who faces former Rep. Mondaire Jones.
Lawler ought to thank Hochul for making him a congressman, Pelosi supposedly told Lawler earlier this year.
“There’s going to be a lot of eyes on her,” Basil Smikle, a political consultant and former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, said of Hochul. “There’s going to be a tremendous amount of attention on what the Democrats in the states do and don’t do to help flip the House.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Zach Williams at zwilliams@bloombergindustry.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bernie Kohn at bkohn@bloomberglaw.com; Bill Swindell at bswindell@bloombergindustry.com
(Updates with Sept. 3 arrest of former aide in fourth paragraph.)
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