Lieutenant Governor Candidate Kathy Hochul is a ‘True Progressive,’ Says Mayor Bill de Blasio

NEW YORK—The mayor, city council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and other council members announced on Wednesday their endorsement of Kathy Hochul for lieutenant governor.
Lieutenant Governor Candidate Kathy Hochul is a ‘True Progressive,’ Says Mayor Bill de Blasio
In this file photo, Kathy Hochul speaks to the media after a House Democratic Caucus meeting October 25, 2011 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Annie Wu
Updated:

NEW YORK—The mayor, city council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and other council members announced on Wednesday their endorsement of Kathy Hochul for lieutenant governor. 

Mayor de Blasio hailed Hochul as a “true progressive,” saying that he relates to her status as an underdog, noting how he upended early predictions in last year’s mayoral race to emerge victorious.

De Blasio said he and his wife, Chirlane McCray, campaigned for Hochul at Brooklyn senior centers yesterday.

Hochul’s views while serving in congress were recently attacked by opponent, Tim Wu and gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout, describing them as against Democratic Party values.

Speaker of the council Mark-Viverito added endorsement, dispelling criticisms of Hochul’s voting record and noting Hochul’s support of marriage equality, pro-choice legislation, the Dream Act, and legislation that would allow legal status for certain undocumented immigrants. 

Immigration

During the press conference, Hochul touted her pro-immigration stance, telling voters that she was a child of immigrant parents herself. Her family started out from humble beginnings, she said, living in a trailer by the Bethlehem Steel plant upstate.

“We lived the American dream,” Hochul said.

She also supports issuing ID cards to undocumented immigrants, though when she served as county clerk under former governor Eliot Spitzer, Hochul opposed issuing driver’s licenses to them.

Annie Wu
Annie Wu
Author
Annie Wu joined the full-time staff at the Epoch Times in July 2014. That year, she won a first-place award from the New York Press Association for best spot news coverage. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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