Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins: Hochul Would Have Support from the Senate

If Gov. Andrew Cuomo leaves office after a lengthy report found claims of sexual harassment against him to be credible, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul would have support from the State Senate as his temporary successor, according to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat from Westchester County, said Hochul would be embraced by her colleagues with open arms if she’s elevated to the role of acting governor.

“I’m sure she will do absolutely fine, and have support,” Stewart-Cousins said in an interview to air on New York NOW this weekend. “Because, again, we understand what’s important. And what’s important is keeping our focus on making sure that New Yorkers are doing well.”

Hochul and Stewart-Cousins already have a personal relationship through visits to her district, and the lieutenant governor’s role presiding over Senate proceedings on days of significant interest — like the first day of session, and when noteworthy bills come up for a vote.

While the lieutenant governor’s role in New York is often thought of as largely inactive in terms of policy and leadership roles, Hochul has done the opposite.

She chairs the state’s Regional Economic Development Councils, and is often seen criss-crossing the state to attend major announcements and events. Just last year, she visited Puerto Rico to offer support after a series of earthquakes rocked the island.

Hochul has also been involved in several policy items, like the Reproducitve Health Act, a bill that strenthened New York’s abortion laws, and access to child care.

The latter issue is personal for Hochul. At the start of her career, she was an attorney working in Washington, D.C.for U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democrat from New York. She still lived in New York at the time, and often traveled to Washington for work.

But she left the job when she couldn’t find access to affordable and reliable child care in Buffalo, where she still lives.

It’s those values and experience that Stewart-Cousins says prepared Hochul for the job.

“We know that people need to feel like there's a sense of stability,” Stewart-Cousins said. “And I think Lt. Gov. Hochul certainly brings that.”

“Women in leadership — there’s not a lot of us, so I’ve had an opportunity to develop a personal relationship with her.”

The relationship might come in handy if Hochul replaces Cuomo as the top office-holder in New York, even temporarily.

The New York Attorney General’s Office released a report this week that found Cuomo broke both state and federal civil laws related to sexual harassment. The report was the result of claims from several women that Cuomo had acted inappropriately with them.

While several elected officials had already called on Cuomo to resign when the claims first came out in February, more joined those calls this week after the report was released.

Cuomo’s office has indicated that he doesn’t plan to resign anytime soon, meaning the three-term governor will likely face impeachment by the state Legislature in the coming weeks.

Democrats said this week they’ll soon prepare articles of impeachment for a vote.

Cuomo has denied the claims, and pushed back on the report this week, saying it was the result of political bias, and wasn’t an accurate depiction of his actions.

How and when to watch the full interview: