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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Kathy Hochul, Doing Great

Kathy Hochul, Doing Great

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Kathy Hochul has only been on the job since Tuesday, but so far, so good.

First, she corrected the state’s COVID death toll so that the nursing home deaths were included in New York’s internal counts. It’s important to note that New York followed CDC guidelines when reporting deaths to the CDC, so our CDC numbers won’t change. Here’s the conclusion of Philip Bump’s explainer on that:

In other words, analyses of the effects of the pandemic on New York that used CDC data or numbers from media outlets were not compromised by the numbers reported by the state data released under Cuomo. There were not thousands of deaths that went unreported and which Hochul is now bringing to light, as was the case with James’s report on nursing home deaths. Instead, Cuomo was using a narrow definition of covid-related deaths (presumably to make his administration look better) that wasn’t the norm elsewhere.

It is way past time to clean this up, and good for her.

She also announced a school mask mandate and mandatory vaccination or testing of school personnel. The reason for the testing option is because she doesn’t have the power to impose mandatory vaccination, but she can impose testing. I’ll bet that we’ll see more mandates from the legislature soon.

Today, she’s naming Brian Benjamin, who’s a 44 year-old up-and-coming state Senator in Harlem, as her Lieutenant Governor. Given that she’s from Buffalo and has announced that she’s running for Governor, a New York City pick makes sense for her re-election, which is anything but a sure thing. Benjamin seems progressive on some issues (bail reform and ending solitary confinement), but he’s also a former investment banker, and he had a few questionable campaign donations when he ran for NYC Comptroller. We’ll see how he turns out, especially if Hochul is really committed to having him do real work rather than be mostly a ceremonial governor.

Finally, she likes veggie burgers and wears a “Fight like a Girl” hat.

Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    I’m on Team Hochul.

    She’s been great so far.

    I make an effort to see friends @Queens_Dems at their Summer BBQ — this time my first as Governor.

    I promise I won’t change in this job, but I’m going to change this job. pic.twitter.com/BpvgomCqmC

    — Kathy Hochul (@KathyHochul) August 26, 2021

    She reminds me of the old time politicians… she travels everywhere and meets everyone. She listens to people and finds common ground.

  2. 2.

    dimmsdale

    Really appreciate your posting about her, Mr. Mix, and hopefully you’ll have more to say about her. NYC resident, know next to nothing about state politics, but so far I’m happy to have a governor who appears to be all about service instead of ego. Thanks!!

  3. 3.

    MattF

    NY governor (unlike e.g., NYC mayor) is automatically a player in the national arena. Should watch to see if Hochul reaches for that after she’s done with post-Cuomo cleanup.

  4. 4.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    @germy: I knew that I liked her as a politician, but the 15 minute inaugural address clinched it.  She covered everything that needed to be covered and didn’t blather on like the last guy used to.

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    Cuomo was a dick, but I envied y’all when he was governor because ours here in FL is infinitely worse. Now I’m really jealous — unqualified envy!

    MM, if you or other Empire State residents have a sec, would you mind explaining why Hochul’s reelection isn’t a sure thing, if she continues to do a good job and chooses to run? I know NY politics are fraught, but I’m not clear on the dynamics. Thanks!

  8. 8.

    geg6

    So far, the only questionable thing I’ve seen from her is the veggie burger. I’d rather eat sawdust.

  9. 9.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    @Betty Cracker:

    MM, if you or other Empire State residents have a sec, would you mind explaining why Hochul’s reelection isn’t a sure thing, if she continues to do a good job and chooses to run? I know NY politics are fraught, but I’m not clear on the dynamics. Thanks!

    Yep, it’s simple:  downstate (New York City and suburbs) has way more people than upstate and completely dominate statewide politics.  There hasn’t been an upstate Governor in my time in New York.  She’s from Buffalo, so she’s got an uphill climb ahead of her.

  10. 10.

    Benw

    Huh, I did not know Shake Shack serves veggie burgers; good to know. Thanks, Gov. Hochul!

    So happy about the mask mandate! You guys would not believe some of the insane shit the anti-maskers said at our district BOE meeting. My fav was the one that claimed masks cause infections because when battlefield surgeons in the civil war removed their masks, the rate of gangrene went down! QED libs!

  12. 12.

    trollhattan

    @Benw:

    when battlefield surgeons in the civil war removed their masks, the rate of gangrene went down! QED libs!

    Uh, wut?

    Nice to know, for bare starters, they were keeping statistics on medical outcomes decades before learning what a germ is.

  14. 14.

    Joe Falco

    @Betty Cracker:

    Kemp in GA is bad, but at least he called in National Guard medical staff to help with some of the busiest hospitals because of COVID. He wants to be some sort of DeSantis lite, a moderate of the hard-right variety: do and say all the hard-right things but give some token appearance he doesn’t want everyone in his state to die, unlike DeSantis.

  15. 15.

    Almost Retired

    Glad your gubernatorial drama has a happy ending.  I hope ours does too, here in California.

  19. 19.

    MomSense

    I already like your Gov. Hochul!  I hope she takes after our badass Governor here in Maine.

  21. 21.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @germy: much like when hillary ran for senate in ny state

    wonder why no one ever touted her as a retail pol…

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    @Betty Cracker: 

    MM, if you or other Empire State residents have a sec, would you mind explaining why Hochul’s reelection isn’t a sure thing, if she continues to do a good job and chooses to run? I know NY politics are fraught, but I’m not clear on the dynamics. Thanks!

    Because, Tish James might run for Governor.

  25. 25.

    randy khan

    Shake Shack, a New York company, is very on brand for the new New York Governor.  And the veggie burger will play very well in the Brooklyn.

  26. 26.

    jonas

    Hochul has appointed two major NY Democratic political insiders to key posts — secretary to the governor (sort like chief legislative aide cum chief of staff — very powerful position in NY) Karen Persichilli Keogh and chief counsel to the governor Elizabeth Fine. Keogh was a former Hillary Clinton and Gillibrand aide and recently chief of global philanthropy at JP Morgan Chase; Fine worked with Janet Reno in the Clinton administration and has been most recently head counsel to the Empire State Development agency, which has had a somewhat bumpy ride over the past several years with several corruption scandals. No idea if Fine was there when any of that stuff was going down. This means that the three top executive positions in Albany are now held by women for the first time. I think it also indicates that Hochul intends to be all-in on running for reelection next year, lining up a team of aides with major connections to the party establishment both upstate and down. If Covid improves and the unemployment rate comes down, she’ll probably be in pretty good shape, especially since she can credibly claim not to have been part of Cuomo’s dysfunctional office during her time as Lt. Gov.

  29. 29.

    Benw

    @trollhattan: @Eunicecycle:  my best guess is that it’s based on an anecdote lifted (and probably wrong) from some civil war doctor’s letters/memoir.

    The woman telling the story was a nurse! No idea how she compartmentalizes that.

  30. 30.

    germy

    This is a huge milestone for the publications @politico @POLITICOEurope @protocol that so many people worked so hard to build over recent years. @axelspringer_EN is the perfect owner to take great news organizations and make them a true global force in the generation ahead.

    — John F. Harris (@harrispolitico) August 26, 2021

    @MattF:

    Huge self-own to boast that they “worked so hard” to accomplish acquisition by a right-wing media group. https://t.co/swJImZSJbT

    — Mark (Vaxxed and Masked) Mucci (@MLMucci) August 26, 2021

  32. 32.

    piratedan

    @Baud: alas, initial reading implies that these guys think Fox News are lightweights…

    So I expect TigerBeat to evolve into StormFront Lite….

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    @rikyrah: As long as a Dem holding the office is a sure thing, I generally don’t see anything wrong with a Dem primarying an incumbent Dem officeholder. That said, IMO, it’s a better look if the challenger is making that move due to significant policy differences rather than to further their political career.

    I don’t know enough about NY politics to guess at where James and Hochul might disagree on policy nor to determine whether a contested primary might endanger Dem efforts to hold the seat.

  37. 37.

    trollhattan

    @Benw:

    I’ve settled on somebody remembers watching M*A*S*H thinking it was a Civil War comedy.

    Only reason the south lost was they were slow developing helicopter technology.

  39. 39.

    jackmac

    Here in Illinois our governor (J.B. Pritzker) has just ordered a statewide mandate requiring masks in all indoor locations starting Monday for people ages 2 and up. He’s also ordered mandatory vaccination of all educators from K-college.

  40. 40.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    @Betty Cracker:  The primary is everything.  The last Republican candidates for Governor got creamed, and whichever Democrat wins the primary is a more than odds-on favorite to win the general.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump and

    Looking at that, thinking “Sue Trump? Sue Trump? Which one is she again — one of Eric’s kids?”

  46. 46.

    J.

    @Betty Cracker:  Born and raised in NYC with family and friends still there. In the past an unknown (to New Yorkers, as in people from NYC) wouldn’t stand a chance, but times have changed. And if Hochul does a good job and spends some time and capital in the Big Apple (and doesn’t alienate Wall Street), I think she stands an excellent chance of getting reelected.

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