Kathy Hochul, our new Governor

As of yesterday, Kathy Hochul is NY’s 57th Governor. She is the first female Governor of NY after 250 years of men. It is about time. It is unfortunate how she had to get there, but she is here.

She has made it very clear that she also plans on running for Governor in the next election. She wants to bring back trust in Government. Don’t we all? Based on what I am reading, hearing, and seeing, her approach will be collaborative, transparent, and will get things done. I hope that she does not use politics as a tool to fund the multitude of things that must get done in NY, from dealing with the Delta variant, the unvaccinated, jobs, education, and the new cannabis referendum.

The first thing she did was appoint two women to be part of her top staff. I love that she and her daughter and daughter-in-law wore white to the swearing-in ceremony to acknowledge the women of the suffrage movement. She had three female reporters ask the first questions in her first minutes as a Governor. She acknowledged history, saying, “thought about all the women that came before me, including my mother who was not there, but a lot of women through history, and I felt they passed the torch to me.” That is a strong move.

It is time for women to be in more seats that lead the troops. I hope that we just took a few steps forward, and we will not be taking any more backward. As she said, “It is our time to unleash the power of New York’s women. And make sure that any barriers to success and opportunity are eradicated, once and for all.” From her lips…