Kathy Hochul has a knack for being at the right place at the right time

With a ballooning number of investigations and resignations surrounding New York City Mayor Eric Adams sucking up most of New York’s political oxygen over the past two weeks, it’s easy to forget Gov. Kathy Hochul and her office were very recently ensnared in controversy. This is not the first time that Hochul has had a negative news cycle cut short, or ascended in moments when others are in chaos. Sometimes, she has just been in the right place at the right time. But Hochul would not say good fortune has anything to do with it. “As a lifelong Bills fan, Governor Hochul has never considered herself to be particularly lucky,” Sam Spokony, a Hochul spokesperson, said in an email to City & State. “She was elected New York’s first female governor after demonstrating a clear command of the issues, leading the State through multiple crises, and enacting bold policies to make New York more affordable, more livable and safer.”

Linda Sun indicted on Chinese spying allegations

Superseding event: FBI raids on top Adams administration officials

While much was made of the Nanjing-style salted duck-ridden scandal right after Labor Day surrounding former Hochul and Andrew Cuomo aide Linda Sun, the FBI’s unprecedented actions involving top Adams officials drew attention away from the governor’s mansion. Edward Caban has since resigned leading the NYPD, plus Cuomo had to answer for Sun’s alleged deception in front of Congress.

Brian Benjamin steps down after bribery charges

Superseding event: Brooklyn subway shooting

Former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin’s resignation on April 12, 2022 – hours after an indictment alleging he committed bribery and falsified campaign finance records while running for state Senate – could have resulted in a longer news cycle about Hochul’s political judgment. But New York City had more urgent concerns. The same morning, Frank James opened fire on a crowded N train in Brooklyn, wounding 10 people as authorities carried out a 30-hour manhunt. The shooting reignited the debate about how to reduce crime in the subway system and less than two months later the state Legislature passed a bill banning guns from “sensitive locations,” like the subways.

Hochul becomes the state’s first woman governor 

Preceding event: Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns amid multiple scandals

Perhaps the most obvious example of Hochul’s opportune timing is her rise to the governor’s mansion, after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in August 2021 following allegations of sexual harassment and assault, controversy over using state resources to produce his pandemic-era book and covering up COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. Hochul would take the reins two weeks later with a lot on her plate.

Hochul elected to Congress in a special election 

Preceding event: Rep. Chris Lee resigns after soliciting trans woman on Craigslist

Hochul was first chosen to run for the 26th Congressional District in a special election to replace former Rep. Chris Lee, who resigned in February 2011 after it was reported that the married father of one had emailed a shirtless photo of himself to a woman he met on Craigslist. Hochul, then the Erie County clerk, was unanimously nominated by area party chairs as the Democratic nominee, and defeated Republican Jane Corwin.

Hochul named Erie County clerk

Preceding event: Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer nominates David Swarts as DMV commish

After Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer picked Erie County Clerk David Swarts to run the state Department of Motor Vehicles in December 2006, he saw a natural successor in Hochul, Swarts’ deputy clerk, for the role his nominee had held since 1987.

Hochul elected to Hamburg Town Board

Preceding event: Patrick Hoak becomes Hamburg Town Supervisor

Hochul was appointed to her hometown of Hamburg’s Town Board in 1994 after Patrick Hoak was elected town supervisor, leaving an open seat to be filled with two years left in his term. That was only three years after she moved back home with her family from Washington, D.C., where she worked in the offices of Rep. John LaFalce and U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Hochul would go on to win four full terms on the board.