arrow Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul at a COVID-19 press conference on January 25, 2021 Governor Cuomo s office
As Governor Andrew Cuomo stares down an investigation into sexual harassment allegations, there is one woman with a unique stake in what happens next for the governor. Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, a native of Western New York and only the third woman to hold the office, is next in line should Cuomo resign or be removed from office.
If she were to ascend to the governor’s office, she would make history as the state’s first woman governor. She would also be the second Lieutenant Governor in a row to take over the job from a disgraced governor in 2008, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson suddenly became governor of the New York after Eliot Spitzor resigned amidst a prostitution scandal.