Incoming Governor Kathy Hochul is running.
Hochul appeared on NBC’s TODAY show Thursday, where she said will run for a full term in 2022 when the seat will be on the ballot. She succeeds disgraced Governor Andrew Cuomo later this month.
The Democrat from Buffalo will be the first woman governor in New York history and the first from upstate New York since the early 1920s.
She will likely face a crowded Democratic primary for the seat and, if she wins, then would have to beat likely Republican nominee Lee Zeldin, a congressman from Long Island.
Hochul also said she expects New York will have a mask mandate in schools this fall amid a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said her first challenge is helping the state stave off the COVID surge. Hochul planned to meet with health officials yesterday and would look to schools for input on a mask mandate.
Cuomo had avoided implementing any broad masking policy, saying schools and local governments should follow federal guidance that recommends masks indoors in communities with high rates of spread.
Earlier this week, 48 of New York’s 62 counties were deemed by the Centers for Disease Control to have substantial or high rates of COVID spread that should require masks indoors for everyone, including those vaccinated.
Schools and the state Education Department have been clamoring for more guidance from the state.
Hochul stressed that while it’s too soon for her to impose a mask mandate, she said the state would likely end up with one to ensure students can go back to school safely in the fall.
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