Do we like them?

Do we like Kathy Hochul?

Our score: 7 out of 10. A reliable ally on trans rights, immigrants and abortion, marked down for climate backsliding and a few messy calls in office.

Hochul is a Buffalo-area girl, the daughter of a former Lackawanna steelworker who later ran his own IT company, raised alongside five siblings by a stay-at-home mum. She did law school, worked for New York politicians in Washington, then came home to win a seat on the Hamburg town council. She was Erie County Clerk by 2007. She is not a flashy figure, and she got the top job when her boss's career ended, not from a big campaign.

On immigration she has moved firmly to the side of the people being targeted. Her Local Cops, Local Crimes Act forced police agencies across the state to end their 287(g) agreements with ICE by 25 August 2026. She said she wants police “keeping people safe, not doing ICE's job”. Republican rival Bruce Blakeman, who runs Nassau County, which had one of those agreements, attacked the law at a rally.

The planet is where she disappoints. Her 2024 pause of congestion pricing drew fire from transit and environmental groups, and a state report found New York was unlikely to meet its 2030 renewable target. Her office points to strong climate actions and a $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act that voters approved in 2022, so the file is mixed, not a villain's.

The messy bits are mostly about judgement. Her first lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, resigned in 2022 after being arrested on federal corruption charges, which his lawyers denied. Hochul said “it was a surprise, it really was.” This year the federal government has also gone after New York's Medicaid system, with CMS alleging large-scale fraud and the Justice Department reportedly set to sue over a home-care contract. Hochul herself is not accused, and she calls it a political attack on blue states.

She also does the big, popular stuff. In February 2026 she signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act after years of debate, and she partnered with NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani on expanding child care. He endorsed her for re-election, though she has kept income-tax rises on the wealthy out of the plan. Where you land on that depends on whether you read it as pragmatic or timid.

So: on harm to people, she passes. On being nice, she clears the bar, with the asterisk for some questionable calls and the climate dithering. There is no sign of grievance politics, conspiracy talk or punching down at anyone's expense.