NEW YORK — What would happen in the event Gov. Cuomo resigned or was impeached in Albany as a result of scandals involving the cover-up of nursing home deaths and sexual harassment?
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul would be the first in the line of succession as the state’s chief executive. She has served as lieutenant governor since 2013. A Buffalo native, she graduated from Syracuse University and Catholic University law school.
Her political career until becoming the state’s number two executive was highlighted by serving in the House of Representatives in New York’s 26th district from 2011 to 2013.
If appointed, she would be the first female governor in New York history. She would be the second lieutenant governor to assume office, after David Paterson took over for Eliot Spitzer in the wake of a scandal.
If Hochul were for some reason unable to serve, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins would take the role.
Impeachment of Gov. Cuomo would require a majority vote of the total members. Conviction would require a two-thirds majority of a special impeachment court to remove him from office. Gov. William Salzer was impeached, convicted and removed from office in 1913, the only such happening in the state’s history.
