New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has become the leading force of the region in less than six months on the job after shattering campaign fundraising records and building up $21.6 million for her election campaign.
Hochul turned Tuesday into a tour de force of her political and government prowess on the same day that saw one of the official's biggest potential primary opponents bow out. She also released a state budget packed with goodies for residents and special interest groups.
Massive Campaign Fundraising
A statewide poll showed that the New York governor was crushing her rivals, all of which came just months after she took the helm succeeding Andrew Cuomo. The former official resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal despite nearing three terms in office.
The situation suggests that Hochul is quickly replacing the former governor as the most powerful person in New York politics. If the new official wins the election, she would become the first woman to be elected governor in New York history.
"She's a tough chick from Buffalo. I always said - from day one, when people assumed she would just be there temporarily and as a placeholder for [Attorney General] Tish James or someone else - I said, 'don't underestimate her,'" said state Sen. Diane Savino who endorsed the now-New York governor last year, Politico reported.
Campaign paperwork that was filed on Tuesday showed that Hochul was raising around $140,000 every single day, on average, between her swearing-in last August and last week. With a massive sum in the palm of her hands, Hochul has shown few signs of slowing down her fund-raising pace.
The New York governor's fundraising strength has already assisted her most competitive foil, Letitia James, the New York attorney general, from the race completely. The situation most likely played a significant role on Tuesday when Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of New York City, announced he would not be running for governor despite teasing the idea for months.
Kathy Hochul's Strengths
However, the main source of liability of Hochul comes from the sources of some of her donations, which complicate the image of a governor who just took office after scandalous Cuomo. Some of the financiers include New York's most well-financed special interest groups, commonly multimillionaires, labor unions, and business groups, the New York Times reported.
The situation comes as Hochul leads in the Democratic primary for governor of New York by more than 30 points from her nearest challenger, based on a new poll released on Tuesday. The governor captured the support of 46% of Democratic voters.
Compared to last month's 36%, Hochul's recent poll numbers include those from a Siena survey that was conducted from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 last year. At the time, voters were asked about who they would support if the primary was held that same day.
In a statement, Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said that the New York governor approached support from nearly half of all Democrats. He also noted that James' dropout from the race boosted de Blasio's numbers before he announced himself out of the elections, the New York Post reported.
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