Path for Democratic House speaker ‘goes through New York,’ Hochul declares

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is touting the Empire State as the key to Democrats winning back control of the House of Representatives in November, saying she is committed to flipping GOP seats blue.

After former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi won back his old congressional seat in a special election last week, Hochul said at the Politico Governors Summit that she would use all her resources to get House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) elected House speaker with a Democratic majority.

“I am involved in these House races. The path for Hakeem Jeffries to become the speaker goes right through the state of New York,” Hochul said.

“We just picked up Tom Suozzi, restoring him back to what had been a Republican seat, so that was a big win for us, and you know the story, how that all played out. But I’m committed to use all my resources as the leader of the party,” Hochul added. “I’m raising it as a state party of a coordinated campaign with [Sen. Kirsten] Gillibrand [D-NY], Hakeem Jeffries. I am leading hard on this because not just the fate of America lies in the balance of this, but also my own state is affected, and that’s why I’m so engaged in this.”

When asked if Suozzi’s victory gave New York Democrats a blueprint for victory in swing races, Hochul said the blueprint was the issues, such as immigration and abortion. She specifically called out the lack of action with immigration and border security by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and the Republicans representing the Empire State.

“Those are issues that Tom could run on and say this is why Republicans are incapable of leading, and we need to start winning these House races back starting with him, and that begins the trend,” Hochul said. “So I feel very optimistic, with that as the bellwether of what will happen in our other states and seats in the state of New York and perhaps across the nation.”

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New York was the saving grace for the GOP in 2022 when Republicans in key races across the country racked up losses, and the party risked its opportunity to flip control of the House of Representatives. Wins by Republicans in key swing seats in the Empire State helped give the GOP a narrow majority in the chamber.

As New York is set to get a new congressional map after the one used in 2022 was thrown out by a court, the GOP’s hold on several seats in the state is under threat. A map passed by the state’s bipartisan committee would put one incumbent Republican in a more Democratic-favorable district while leaving much of the state unchanged. The Democratic-controlled state legislature will now decide the map’s fate ahead of the Feb. 28 court-ordered deadline.