Kathy Hochul sworn in as New York's 1st woman governor

(Image credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

published 24 August 2021

Right after midnight on Tuesday, Kathy Hochul was sworn in as New York's 57th governor, becoming the first woman to ever hold the position.

Hochul, 62, was elected as lieutenant governor in 2014, and re-elected four years later. A Democrat, she is replacing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who resigned earlier this month after the New York attorney general's office concluded that he sexually harassed multiple women.

A graduate of Syracuse University and Catholic University, Hochul hails from Buffalo. The married mother of two previously served as a city clerk and one-term congresswoman, and is the first governor to come from outside New York City and its environs since Franklin D. Roosevelt left office in 1932, The New York Times reports. She will spend Tuesday meeting with leaders of the state Senate and Assembly, attending a ceremonial swearing in, and delivering a televised address to New Yorkers.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.