Akm Shehabuddin Kisslu: Kathy Hochul 64, becomes the first elected woman governor In New York’s more than 230-year history. On Tuesday, New York marked the first time that voters had chosen a woman to lead them spanning 57 governors.
Winning the race Buffalo Democrat Kathy Hochul won a full term as governor of New York on Tuesday. But during a speech to his supporters early Wednesday morning, her challenger Republican candidate Lee Zeldin did not concede in the race. Mr. Zeldin refused to concede, saying there were too many uncounted ballots, and he expected the results would “continue to get closer and closer and closer.”
However this election was the closest contest in decades that New York has seen.
In the governor’s race, Hochul led Zeldin 54 percent to 46 percent with 81 percent of the votes tallied around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. Ms. Hochul held on with strong turnout in New York City and favorable margins in western New York. But the suburbs of Long Island and even portions of New York City swung hard toward Republicans.
“The glass ceiling like the one that’s above us here today has finally been shattered in the state of New York, and you made it happen,” she told supporters At a victory party in Lower Manhattan.
“I believe with every fiber in my body that our best days do lie ahead,” she said.
Ms. Hochul however ,acknowledged the potency of fears about public safety, but she cast her victory as proof that New Yorkers wanted more from Albany than Mr. Zeldin’s proposals to cut down on crime.
“The lesson of tonight’s victory is that given the choice, New Yorkers refuse to go backward on our long march toward progress,” she said in brief remarks.
Ms. Hochul also took moments in her speech to bask in what she had accomplished in 15 months since Andrew M. Cuomo resigned in the face of sexual harassment claims. It was also the first time New York has elected a governor from upstate New York in close to a century.
“The road here from Buffalo was not always easy,” Ms. Hochul said. “Yes, the glass ceiling, like the one that’s above us here today, has finally been shattered in the State of New York.”
Republican challenger from Long Island Lee Zeldin declined to concede, saying there were still 1.4 million votes likely still to be counted — particularly in Suffolk County on Long Island where he is from and serves as a congressmember.
“It’s going to be a little frustrating for members of the media who didn’t ever want us to be in contention here in New York,” he told his thinning crowd of supporters that had filled the spacious ballroom of Cipriani’s in midtown Manhattan.
“What’s going to happen is over the course of these next couple of hours you’re going to see the race continue to get closer and closer and closer,” he continued.
Democrat Kathy Hochul, who took office in August 2021 after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, has vowed to focus on housing, reducing gun violence and building economic opportunity in her first full term, as well as protecting abortion rights.
