Hochul, Kathy, 1958-

Kathleen Courtney Hochul (born August 27, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as Governor of New York since August 24, 2021. She previously served as Lieutenant Governor of New York from January 1, 2015 to August 23, 2021 and as the U.S. Representative for New York's 26th congressional district from June 1, 2011, to January 3, 2013.

Born Kathleen Courtney in Buffalo, New York, she attended Hamburg High School in Hamburg, New York before matriculating to Syracuse University, where she first became politically active, and the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. After graduating from law school, Hochul began working for a Washington D.C. law firm, but found the work unsatisfying. She then worked as a legal counsel and 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. She married William J. Hochul in 1984. In 1994 Hochul won election as a Democrat to one of four at-large seats on the Hamburg town board, where she served for 12 years. In May 2003, she was appointed deputy Erie county clerk. In early 2007, she was appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer to fill the unexpired term of Erie County clerk David J. Swarts; she won election to a full term that fall, becoming the highest elected female official in the county. Hochul ran in the May 24, 2011, special election to fill the seat in New York's 26th congressional district left vacant by the resignation of Republican Chris Lee as the Democratic Party and Working Families Party nominee. Thanks to Republican in-fighting, Hochul scored an upset victory.

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