New governor shatters New York state’s glass ceiling as Cuomo exits
Andrew Cuomo was at the end of his decade as New York’s governor on Monday, as he prepared to relinquish his tight grip on government to Kathy Hochul in a midnight power transfer that will break another glass ceiling for women in state politics.
Cuomo, a Democrat, was set to end his term at 11.59pm, just under two weeks after he announced he would resign rather than face a likely impeachment battle over sexual harassment allegations.
Hochul was scheduled to be sworn in as New York’s first female governor just after midnight in a brief, private ceremony overseen by the state’s chief judge, Janet DiFiore.
“My final day is tomorrow,” Cuomo said on Sunday. Hochul, also a Democrat, will inherit immense challenges as she takes over an administration facing criticism for inaction in Cuomo’s distracted final months in office.
Covid has refused to abate.
Schools are set to reopen in the coming weeks, with big decisions to be made about whether to require masks for students or vaccination for teachers. The state’s economic recovery from the pandemic is still incomplete.
Cuomo’s resignation comes after an independent investigation overseen by state attorney general Letitia James concluded there was credible evidence he’d sexually harassed at least 11 women. Cuomo insists he didn’t touch anyone inappropriately and called the allegations “unfair” and “untruthful”, but said he wouldn’t force the state to endure an impeachment trial he couldn’t win.
Separately, Cuomo is facing a legislative investigation into whether he misled the public about Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes to protect his reputation as a pandemic leader and improperly got help from state employees in writing a pandemic book that may net him $5 million.
Hochul will need to quickly build her own team of advisers who can help steer the administration for at least the next 16 months. Hochul, who said she didn’t work closely with Cuomo, has vowed no one will ever call her workplace “toxic”.
She once represented a conservative Western New York district in Congress for a year and has a reputation as a moderate, is expected to pick a left-leaning state lawmaker from New York City as her lieutenant governor.
“She’s very experienced and I think she’ll be a refreshing and exciting new governor,” state Democratic Party chair Jay Jacobs said.