| Kathy Hochul | |
|---|---|
| Official congressional photo, June 2011 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 26th district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office June 1, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Chris Lee |
| County Clerk of Erie County, New York | |
| In office January 1, 2007 – June 1, 2011 |
|
| Deputy | John Crangle |
| Preceded by | David Swarts |
| Succeeded by | John Crangle |
| Deputy County Clerk of Erie County, New York | |
| In office 2003–2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Kenneth Kruly |
| Succeeded by | John Crangle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kathleen Courtney August 27, 1958 Buffalo, New York |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | William Hochul (m. 1984)[1] |
| Children | Two |
| Residence | Snyder, New York |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University, B.A. Catholic University, J.D[2] |
| Religion | Catholic[3] |
| Assets | $780,000 - $1.6 million[4] |
| Boards | Kathleen Mary House Immaculata Academy |
| Website | Official website |
Kathleen Courtney "Kathy" Hochul (pronounced HOKE-ul; born August 27, 1958)[5] is the Democratic U.S. Representative for New York's 26th congressional district, serving since June 1, 2011. She prevailed in the four-candidate special election of May 24, 2011 to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Republican Chris Lee,[6] and is the first Democrat to represent the district in 40 years.[1]
Hochul served as the County Clerk of Erie County, New York from 2007 until taking her seat in Congress. Previously, she was a deputy county clerk, a member of the Hamburg town board, a practicing attorney, and a legislative aide.
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Hochul was born Kathleen Courtney, the second oldest of the six children of John Courtney, then a college student and clerical worker and Pat Courtney, a homemaker.[1] Hochul's family struggled financially during her early years and lived in a trailer near a steel plant at first.[1] However, by the time Hochul was in college, her father was working for the information technology company which he later headed.[1]
Hochul became politically active during her college years at Syracuse University, leading a boycott of the student bookstore over high prices and an unsuccessful effort to name the university stadium after alumni running back Ernie Davis instead of the Carrier Corporation.[1] She received her B.A. degree from Syracuse in 1980 and her law degree from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. in 1984.[2][1]
After graduating from law school, Hochul began working for a high-powered Washington D.C. law firm, but found the work unsatisfying.[1] She then worked on Capitol Hill as a legal counsel-legislative assistant to U.S. Representative John LaFalce and U.S. Senator Daniel Moynihan, and for the New York State Assembly, before seeking elected office.[7][8]
She became involved in local issues as a small business booster who tried to counteract the effect of Walmart stores.[8] She was elected as the Democratic and Conservative Party candidate to the Hamburg Town Board in November 1994.[9][10] While on the town board, she led efforts to remove toll barriers on parts of the Thruway system.[11][12]
In May 2003, Erie County clerk David Swarts appointed Hochul as his deputy clerk.[7][9] When Swarts left the office in 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer appointed Hochul to fill the post. Though she had been appointed county clerk by Spitzer, she opposed Spitzer's proposal to allow illegal immigrants to apply for a drivers' license without showing a social security card.[13] She said that if the proposal went into effect, she would call the sheriff's office to bring such applicants in for questioning.[13]She was elected later in 2007 to fill the remainder of Swarts' term.[14][15] She ran for reelection on four ballot lines: Democratic, Conservative, Independence and Working Families Party, defeating Republican Clifton Bergfeld in November 2010 with 80 percent of the vote.[8][16]
Hochul ran in the four-way special election race of May 24, 2011 to fill the seat in New York's 26th congressional district left vacant by the resignation of Republican Chris Lee. She was the Democratic Party and Working Families Party nominee.[17] Hochul's residence in Hamburg, just outside the 26th district, became an issue during her campaign, though it did not legally disqualify her from seeking the seat.[18] One month after her victory, she moved into the district, fulfilling a campaign promise.[19][18]
The Republican and Conservative Party candidate, state legislator Jane Corwin, was at first strongly favored to win in the Republican-leaning district which had sent a Republican to Congress for the previous four decades.[1][20][21] A late April poll had Corwin leading Hochul 36-31 percent, with independent-Tea Party candidate, Jack Davis, trailing with 23 percent.[22] An early May poll however, gave Hochul a narrow 35-31 lead,[23] and shortly thereafter, the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report called the race a "toss-up".[24] Additional polling in the days immediately preceding the election had Hochul leading by four and six point margins.[25][26] Hochul defeated Corwin 47 to 43 percent in the special election held on May 24, with Jack Davis receiving 9 percent, and Green Party candidate Ian Murphy receiving 1 percent of the vote.
The campaign featured a number of negative television ads, with nonpartisan FactCheck accusing both sides of "taking liberties with the facts". In particular, FactCheck criticized the Democrats' ads for claiming that the Republican candidate would "essentially end Medicare", though the plan would leave Medicare intact for current beneficiaries.[21] The organization also faulted the Republicans' ads portraying Hochul as a puppet of former U.S. House Speaker Pelosi, and for claiming that Hochul planned to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits.[21]
Hochul was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports Democratic women candidates including those who are pro-choice.[27][28] She was the fifth largest recipient of EMILY's List funds in 2011, receiving more than $27,000 in bundled donations from the organization.[28] The Democrat and Chronicle endorsed Hochul "for her tenacity and independence",[29] while The Buffalo News endorsed her for her positions on preserving Medicare and her record of streamlining government.[30]
While campaigning for Congress, Hochul defined herself as an "independent Democrat".[8] In an interview with the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, she cited her opposition to Spitzer's drivers' license program for illegal immigrants and her opposition to Governor David Paterson's proposal in 2010 to raise revenue by requiring all vehicle owners to buy new license plates, as examples of her independence.[8]
During her congressional campaign, Hochul favored offering incentives to develop alternative energy.[11]
In June 2011, Hochul opposed legislation that would cut funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by 44 percent, on the ground that the CFTC curbs speculation in oil and the resulting layoffs of CFTC personnel would "make it easier for Big Oil companies and speculators to take advantage of ... consumers".[31]
While running for the U.S. House, Hochul supported raising taxes on those making more than $500,000 per year.[11] She opposed the new free trade agreements that were then under consideration, saying, "We don't need to look any further than Western New York to see that these policies do not work." She believes that free trade agreements such as NAFTA and CAFTA have suppressed U.S. wages and benefits and caused job loss in the U.S.[32]
Hochul called the summer 2011 debt ceiling issue "a distraction" to which the American people should not be subjected.[33]
Hochul acknowledged during her campaign that substantial cuts must be made in the federal budget, and said she would consider cuts in all entitlement programs. However, she expressed opposition to the Republican plan that would re-form Medicare into a voucher system, saying it "would end Medicare as we know it".[11][34] She said money could be saved in the Medicare program by eliminating waste and purchasing prescription drugs in bulk.[11] She also said that the creation of more jobs would alleviate Medicare and Social Security budget shortfalls due to increased collections of payroll taxes.[11]
Hochul expressed support for the 2010 health care reform legislation passed by the 111th Congress and said during her campaign that she would not vote to repeal it.[11]
Hochul has said she is pro-choice on abortion.[3]
Hochul is a founder and a member of the Board of Directors of Kathleen Mary House, a transitional home for women and children who are victims of domestic violence.[32][35] She was also co-founder of the Village Action Coalition, and a member of the Board of Trustees at Immaculata Academy in Hamburg.[32]
She is married to William Hochul, who serves as the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York.[36] They reside in Snyder, New York,[19] and are the parents of two children.[32][36]
| Special election May 24, 2011, U.S. House of Representatives, NY-26[37][38] |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Kathy Hochul | 47,519 | 42.58% | |
| Working Families | Kathy Hochul | 5,194 | 4.65% | |
| Republican | Jane Corwin | 35,721 | 32.01% | |
| Conservative | Jane Corwin | 9,090 | 8.15% | |
| Independence | Jane Corwin | 2,376 | 2.13% | |
| Tea Party | Jack Davis | 10,029 | 8.99% | |
| Green | Ian Murphy | 1,177 | 1.05% | |
| Totals | 111,597 | 100.0% | ||
| Voter turnout | 25% | |||
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kenneth Kruly |
Deputy County Clerk of Erie County, New York 2003-2007 |
Succeeded by John Crangle |
| Preceded by David Swarts |
County Clerk of Erie County, New York 2007-2011 |
|
| United States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by Chris Lee |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 26th congressional district 2011–present |
Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Todd Young R-Indiana |
United States Representatives by seniority 431st |
Succeeded by Janice Hahn D-California |