“She was initially viewed as this transitional figure,” Na’ilah Amaru, a Democratic strategist, told Newsday. A man may have been considered an heir apparent, but Hochul wasn’t given that grace, she said, adding that Hochul downplayed her gender until after she was elected in her own right.
Hochul went from the woman behind the man in a ceremonial role to the center of power, where she had to find her sea legs in the entrenched political culture of the “second floor,” long defined by a specific way of operating and never led by a woman, Amaru said.
Read the full article, Kathy Hochul seeks a new term after long rise to become first female NYS governor published June 2, 2026 on newsday.com.