“Any elected governor of New York can be considered a potential presidential candidate,” said former Gov. Malcolm Wilson, speaking on my radio program in 1994. “They’re national figures because they have a proven record as vote getters in a big, complex state with a diverse electorate.”
Wilson, who served from late 1973 until the end of 1974, like Hochul, became governor when the elected governor resigned. Nelson Rockefeller quit to smooth his path to the vice presidency. Hochul, unlike Wilson, won the governorship in her own right. So, according to Wilson’s historical perspective stated decades ago, she could be a presidential contender.
Of course, there are a lot of ifs in this scenario. As a Democrat, she needs to take into account President Biden’s plans.
I hope Hochul doesn’t fantasize about the presidency because she’s facing big challenges in Albany. And the people of New York don’t need the drama of Hochul trying for the White House.
Between now and the new year, the governor has lots of unfinished business. She must select a new chief judge and decide whether to sign or veto more than 400 bills passed by the legislature. Some measures are routine, others controversial like a proposed moratorium on cryptomining, limitations on housing foreclosures by banks, and a ban on pet stores selling cats, dogs and rabbits.
There’s also the stalled licensing of recreational marijuana shops and the $11 billion unemployment insurance fraud documented in an audit by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
The Labor Department paid out $76 billion in benefits during Covid. Of that, $11 billion was stolen, according to DiNapoli. Bureaucrats failed to heed earlier warnings. As a result businesses in New York will be forced to pony up the money that was legitimately paid to unemployed workers and the cash that was purloined.
The screw-up is on Hochul. Now she needs to figure out how to limit the damage to employers.
With the start of a new term, governors typically shake up their teams, including commissioners and staff. Many top managers are holdovers from the Andrew Cuomo administration. It’s logical that Hochul will want people loyal to her as she deals with the complexities of state government.
Under new business, history suggests Hochul will have political fights with the legislature. “Typically, in the first year of a new administration, the executive wants to make tough decisions rather than later,” Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said. Successful politicians must keep an eye on the election cycle.
The battle royale will be about money. Last year’s state budget was more than $220 billion, a 27.5% increase over pre-COVID spending. Much of the added money came from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act. That Washington boodle will not be available to Albany when the governor and legislature hammer out next year’s budget.
Some seasoned Albany watchers predict “blood on the floor” during negotiations. The state budget contains everything from the practical to the sublime. $10.7 billion appropriated for the Transportation Department, $92.5 million for the New York State Council on the Arts. Not every state entity will get what it wants. The slug fest will be over which department or agency is funded adequately and which comes up short.
After the brawl over money, the governor and the legislature will then cross swords over questions like casinos, guns, criminal justice and Assembly redistricting. The list of issues to be decided is long.
Wilson became governor at the height of the Nixon Watergate scandal and New York’s fiscal crisis. Hochul moved into the executive mansion during COVID and Trump’s assault on democracy.
Back in the 1970s the state withstood the turbulence of the times. Now it’s up to Hochul to get us through the rough seas ahead. Voters gave her political muscle. Now she need to demonstrate political skill.
Don Mathisen is a journalist living in Oneonta.