Hochul became politically active during her college years at Syracuse University, leading a boycott of the student bookstore over high prices and an unsuccessful effort to name the university stadium after alumnus running back, NFL draft pick, and cancer victim Ernie Davis. By the time Hochul was in college, however, her father was working for the information technology company he later headed. The family struggled financially during Hochul's early years and for a time lived in a trailer near a steel plant. "Jack" Courtney, then a college student and clerical worker, and Patricia Ann "Pat" (Rochford) Courtney, a homemaker. Hochul was born Kathleen Courtney in Buffalo, New York, the second of the six children of John P. 4 Lieutenant governor of New York (2015–2021).3 United States House of Representatives (2011–2013).Hochul took office as governor of New York on August 24, 2021, after Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. In the 2014 New York gubernatorial election, Andrew Cuomo selected Hochul as his running mate after they won the election, Hochul was inaugurated as lieutenant governor. Hochul later worked as a government relations executive for the Buffalo-based M&T Bank. Hochul was defeated for reelection in 2012 by Chris Collins after the district's boundaries and demographics were changed in the decennial reapportionment process. She served as a United States representative from 2011 to 2013. In May 2011, Hochul won a four-candidate special election for New York's 26th congressional district to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of then-United States Representative Chris Lee, becoming the first Democrat to represent the district in 40 years.
She was elected to a full term as Erie County clerk in 2007 and reelected in 2010. Hochul is a member of the Democratic Party.Īfter serving on the Hamburg town board and as deputy Erie County clerk, Hochul was appointed Erie County clerk in 2007.
She is New York's first female governor and the first governor from upstate New York since the 1930s. Kathleen Courtney Hochul ( / ˈ h oʊ k əl/ HOH-kəl born August 27, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving since August 24, 2021, as the 57th governor of New York.