Editorial: Almost-Gov. Hochul: Some advice for the lieutenant governor as she prepares to take the reins

Kathy Hochul says she’s ready to lead New York state. Her leap into the deep end from the fairly low-stress role of lieutenant governor, where I-am-the-government Andrew Cuomo kept her beyond arm’s length, will quickly offer some high-stakes tests.

It’s now Hochul’s job to fix New York’s utterly incompetent rent-aid program and deliver billions to tenants as soon as possible, and certainly before the state’s eviction moratorium expires on Aug. 31. A federal moratorium, just extended, may well not hold up in court.

It’s her job to figure out how to get more cash from the state’s $2.1 billion excluded worker fund flowing to undocumented immigrants without opening the door to fraud. Overly restrictive rules set up under Cuomo will mean only a trickle of money goes out the door to people in desperate need.

It’s her job to send a clear and consistent message about vaccines and masks to keep the delta variant, which is flooding many other states, from overrunning New York. It’s easy not to be Florida’s Ron DeSantis or Texas’s Greg Abbott; Hochul’s challenge is to work well with local officials and make a convincing case for smart public health mandates, including the state employee immunization requirements pushed by Cuomo.

Cuomo had a bevy of loyal staffers who, flaws and all, knew how to move the levers of government; in a press conference yesterday, Hochul said she would sever ties with anyone responsible for unethical behavior. On whom will she rely instead?

The governor-to-be is a bit of a cipher ideologically. As Erie County clerk, she opposed then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s push to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver’s license without producing a Social Security card — even threatening to arrest those who applied. As lieutenant governor to Cuomo, who signed a law granting those licenses, she evolved. As lieutenant governor, she’s been the face of a few public persuasion campaigns but given little hint of her own political proclivities.

She can rise to meet the moment, but it’s not inevitable.

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