Times Union Editorial Board Endorses Kathy Hochul for Governor

NEW YORK – The Times Union Editorial Board today endorsed Governor Kathy Hochul for a full term, calling the choice for governor “as clear as it gets.” The Board said this November voters will decide between Governor Hochul, an experienced executive who has delivered meaningful results for New Yorkers, and Lee Zeldin who “continues to ally himself with a former president who incited an insurrection against our nation.”

The Times Union endorsement comes on the heels of other editorial board endorsements, including Amsterdam News, Newsday, and the New York Times. 

Times Union: Editorial: For governor, Kathy Hochul
by The Editorial Board, 10/23/22

The choice for New York governor is just about as clear as it gets in politics. It’s a race between a progressive incumbent with accomplishments under her belt and a conservative congressman who purports to stand for law and order even as he misconstrues criminal justice policy and continues to ally himself with a former president who incited an insurrection against our nation. We endorse Gov. Kathy Hochul, who inherited the post last year after the resignation of Andrew Cuomo, for a full term in her own right. […]…Ms. Hochul has been a steady hand in dealing quickly and decisively with May’s horrific mass shooting in Buffalo and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that undid the state’s sensible and century-old concealed carry handgun law. […]

It’s under Ms. Hochul, too, that we’re seeing strong high-tech interest in New York, including the anticipated upstate operation to be built by Micron Technology, one of the world’s largest computer chip manufacturers, a move projected to create 50,000 jobs that could have ripple effects from Syracuse and Utica to Albany. […]

And she was quick to take actions to support the state’s abortion providers in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court conservative majority’s reversal on reproductive rights.

Ms. Hochul has been fiscally prudent, boosting the state’s reserves while devoting ample federal funds to pandemic recovery strategies. […]

As for Mr. Zeldin, we are troubled by his past support of former President Donald Trump’s disproved lies that the 2020 election was rigged, including his vote in Congress against certifying the results. That flew in the face not only the truth but the will of the people of the state he now wants to govern.

And he downplays Mr. Trump’s recent endorsement, something we take as an attempt to distract voters from his close association with a former president who most New Yorkers correctly see as a toxic presence in American politics.

Mr. Zeldin is among those who have cherry-picked violent crimes to pin them, not always accurately, on bail reform. And he has threatened to use an executive order to suspend reforms that were approved by the majority of New York’s lawmakers. That’s an autocratic approach to governance that bodes poorly for a state that needs to function, not be embroiled in the partisan strife and gridlock that we see in Washington, D.C., just because one side isn’t happy that it didn’t get its way.

And on what other issues, we have to wonder, would Mr. Zeldin abuse executive power to try to strong-arm the Legislature? Abortion? Fracking of natural gas, which the state has banned? Climate initiatives?

Mr. Zeldin is on the wrong side of far too many of the big issues in this race. Ms. Hochul has shown herself to be the right leader for New York right now. We hope New Yorkers give her a full term.