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How Gov. Kathy Hochul has endured an extraordinarily bad month
By
Jon Campbell
Published Mar 13, 2025
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Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
By
Jon Campbell
Published Mar 13, 2025
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This column originally appeared in The Politics Brief, our new weekly newsletter on the people, power and policies that shape New Yorkers' lives .
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Be the governor, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
It’s been a difficult four-week stretch for Gov. Kathy Hochul. Consider this partial list of metaphorical fires she’s faced since early February:
- Thousands of corrections officers went on strike for three weeks, throwing the state prison system into chaos. At least seven incarcerated people died during the walkout.
- The U.S. attorney general sued Hochul over a law that helps undocumented people get drivers’ licenses.
- The feds tried to halt congestion pricing in Manhattan.
- Hochul considered (and decided against) removing New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office.
- Trump escalated a trade war with Canada, which threatens New York farms and businesses.
- Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — whom Hochul didn’t get along with, despite serving as his lieutenant governor — launched a run for New York City mayor.
And that doesn’t include the actual brush fires that took out 600 acres on Long Island over the weekend.
Hochul’s handled the issues with varying degrees of strength.
When President Donald Trump tried to halt congestion pricing, Hochul held a news conference assailing him as a wannabe “king” and refused to stop collecting the toll without a court order. When her administration finally struck a deal with corrections officers, she moved to fire 2,000 officers that didn’t take it. And when she declined to remove Adams, she put forward a slate of proposals to bolster state and city oversight of the mayor — but hasn’t been able to convince lawmakers to go along with them yet.
At the state Capitol this week, I asked Hochul to reflect. How does she assess the job she and her team have done in a miserable stretch? “Extraordinary,” she said. “Full stop — extraordinary.”
”What else ya got?” Hochul said after I read off a list of crises she’s faced. “I mean, it's a lot, but I have a talented team. I'm hardwired to deal with crises. This is my strength. And there'll probably be something even more tomorrow or even in the next half hour. But that's what a governor has to do.”
Republicans don’t share the same sentiment.
“ I think it's really telling that the current leaders we have, both the governor [and] the mayor, have been so bad and so weak that it's even possible for Andrew Cuomo to make a case to come back,” state Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt said at the Capitol.
The good news for Hochul? A Siena College poll this week suggested that the seemingly never-ending string of crises hasn’t damaged the governor, politically speaking.
The bad news? That’s partly because her poll numbers were so low to begin with.
Just 40% of New York voters polled said they have a favorable opinion of Hochul, compared to half who said they have an unfavorable view. Those numbers are pretty much where they’ve been for the last three months.
“ There has been some lack of connection between the governor and her constituents,” said Siena pollster Steve Greenberg. “She’s never had a majority of New Yorkers view her favorably.”
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This week we're wondering: Albany is currently working out its state budget, and Hochul is pushing her policy goals – like banning students from using smartphones during school and sending rebate checks to New Yorkers. What do you think of these (or other) Hochul priorities? Let us know here. We'll share responses in next week's newsletter. (Sign up!)
This week in New York politics
- Both Hochul and Adams kept relatively neutral stances on the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who was involved in the protests at Columbia University last year. Here’s what they said.
- Want to hear more about the mayor’s response to Khalil’s arrest? WNYC/Gothamist reporter Elizabeth Kim came on “The Brian Lehrer Show” to discuss that and more news from Adams’ weekly off-topic press conference. Listen here.
- Trump has a more classical vision in mind for the redesign of Penn Station. This group backed by a wealthy Republican donor wants to make it happen.
- Hochul’s budget proposals, including distributing relief checks and phone bans in schools, are facing scrutiny in the legislative process. These are the changes lawmakers are suggesting.
- Another plan Hochul has for New York is to make it more appealing to the film industry by offering an additional tax credit. This is what it’ll mean for New York City.
- Cuomo’s campaign treasurer worked for a New York anti-trans effort last year. Read more here about Kristofer Graham.
- Other lawmakers around the city and state are working to protect access to gender-affirming care for transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people under the Trump administration. Here’s what steps they’re taking.
Tagged
Kathy Hochul
new york state
Politics
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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