New York Election Results for Governor Made History
When Kathy Hochul stepped into the governor role approximately 14 months ago, everyone seemed to have a critique.
One of the most common lines was: “New York did not elect you. You just got lucky.”
After 14 months of serving as the Governor of New York, Hochul was able to prove to the state that she earned her spot in the governor’s mansion.
Hochul ran for Governor on the Democratic ticket against Long Island Republican candidate Lee Zeldin on Tuesday night, and it was a relatively close race.
With this election, Kathy Hochul became the first woman to ever be elected as governor in New York state.
Zeldin did not concede the race as over on Tuesday night when results poured in, although the Associated Press, CNN, CBS, ABC, and NBC have all projected Hochul to be the winner.
"There's over 1.4 million election date votes yet to be counted," Zeldin said.
In the same speech a few minutes later, Zeldin told his supporters to "enjoy the open bar and enjoy watching the results, because what you're about to see is that this will continue to get closer and closer and closer...."
After Kathy Hochul heard the news, she took to Twitter.
“I’m deeply honored to be elected Governor of the State of New York,” she said.
Following Andrew Cuomo’s resignation from office 14 months prior to the election, Kathy Hochul quickly assimilated into her new role as governor. Throughout those months as governor, Hochul pushed for tougher gun laws and safeguarded abortion access and reproductive rights, according to News 4. She also worked to negotiate a new stadium deal for the Buffalo Bills – all while putting the era of Cuomo behind her and paving her own path as a leader.
The victory for Kathy Hochul marks the first time a woman has been elected as governor. She is also the first upstate governor to be elected in over a century. The last time that a candidate from upstate New York was elected as governor was back in 1920 when Cortland County’s Nathan L. Miller held the title.
If Zeldin would have secured the governor’s seat, he would have been the first Republican governor of New York since 2006, according to News 4.
Kathy Hochul will serve four more years in the governor’s mansion.