Why Kathy Hochul is trying to make a clean break from Andrew Cuomo

The Democratic governor is scaling back some of her predecessor’s final acts in office.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is taking a scalpel to some of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s final measures. | Mike Groll/Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul

ALBANY, New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul is defusing political landmines left by her predecessor Andrew Cuomo — narrowing the scope of criminal justice and climate change laws beloved by the left.

Her signals to scale back a Cuomo-approved law that set ambitious emissions reduction targets and a successful effort to pare down his cashless bail provision reflect the rapidly shifting political realities since Hochul ascended to the governor’s office in 2021. Restive voters in the post-Covid era want elected officials to address their affordability and public safety concerns. And some of Cuomo’s final acts in office became politically untenable as she seeks a second full term.

“It’s absolutely true that the dysfunctional Cuomo administration left her with a mess of laws that were never going to be implemented,” said Morgan Hook, a New York Democratic political strategist. “They left her with a mess she’s going to be cleaning up for years.”

© Politico