Gov. Kathy Hochul, who moved into the governor’s office from her post as lieutenant governor after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo resigned, has become the first woman elected to a full four-year term as New York’s governor.
“Tonight, a glass ceiling was shattered in the state of New York. Thank you to everyone who made it happen ”” this victory is yours,” Hochul said.
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado was elected on the Democratic ticket with Hochul. She had appointed him to the office and he resigned his seat in Congress in order to serve in the state position.
The outcome of Hochul’s contest with Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin of Long Island for the governorship became clear early in the morning of Wednesday Nov. 9 when 93% of the votes had been counted in New York state and Hochul led with 3,022,576 votes to Zeldin’s 2,710,211 votes, 52.7% to 47.3%.
In the final weeks of the campaign, Zeldin had stepped up his attacks on Hochul as being weak on crime and was saturating television with ads portraying her as a friend of criminals. The emphasis on crime as an issue, also done in by Republicans in other contests throughout the U.S., was having a positive effect for Zeldin as he steadily narrowed the gap with Hochul. Zeldin’s comparatively strong showing appears to have helped Republican candidates elsewhere in New York state and may have national ramifications as the Republicans appeared to have picked up from three to five New York seats in the House of Representatives.
In a closely-watched contest, Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro was holding a 6,100 vote lead over Democrat Josh Riley for the newly-created 19th Congressional District seat in the Hudson Valley in votes that had been tallied as of early Nov. 9.
In New York’s 17th Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney was trailing Republican challenger Mike Lawler. As of Wednesday morning, Maloney had 137,633 votes compared with Lawler’s 140,883 votes, 49.4% to 50.6%. Maloney, seeking his sixth term, last year was named chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Rep. Pat Ryan declared victory early on Nov. 9 in his contest with Republican State Assemblyman Colin Schmitt for the 18th Congressional District seat. Ryan had formerly been Ulster County Executive.
Democrat Jen Metzger beat Republican Jim Quigley in the contest for Ulster County executive.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sailed to victory over Republican Joe Pinon for another six-year term in the Senate. Schumer had 56.9% of the vote compared with Pinon’s 43.2%. Another challenger, Diane Sare of the LaRouche Party, drew 0.9% of the votes.
New York Attorney General Letitia James won reelection against Republican challenger Michael Henry.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli won a fourth term with 56.9% of the vote as of the morning of Nov. 9 against Republican Paul Rodriguez, who had 43.1% of the vote.
Incumbent Democratic Congressman Jamal Bowman was holding 63% of the vote in the contest for the 16th Congressional District against Republican Miriam Flisser.
In the State Senate, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers was on her way to an easy victory with 65% of the vote compared with 35% for challenger Republican Khristen Kerr.
New Yorkers voted their approval of an environmental bond act that authorizes floating bonds to raise $4.2 billion for clean water protection, stormwater and wastewater system upgrades, flood risk reduction, land conservation and green infrastructure.
