Newly appointed Governor Kathleen Hochul was sworn in at 12 a.m. on Tuesday, August 24 and will deliver a virtual address today at 3 p.m. at www.governor.ny.gov.
Kathleen Courtney Hochul was sworn in as New York’s 57th Governor. She is the first woman to serve in the seat and takes office following the resignation of Andrew M. Cuomo who served for 10 years in the office and 4 years as the state’s Attorney General. He announced his resignation on August 10th. Governor Hochul will complete the term of office which ends on December 31, 2022 and she has announced plans to run for the seat in the next gubernatorial election in 2022.
Governor Hochul is expected to appoint a new Lt. Governor as early as today, August 24.
A more formal swearing in ceremony was held today at 10 a.m. at the State Capitol Building in Albany. The Governor’s family as well as New York State Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins and New York State Assembly Speaker, Carl Heastie were present.
At 3 p.m., Governor Hochul will deliver a virtual Address to the People of New York from the State Capitol. It’s expected she will outline her priorities for her tenure as Governor. The address will be streamed live at www.governor.ny.gov
Key Appointments
An August 23, press release announced two key Hochul appointments; Karen Persichilli Keogh will serve as Secretary to the Governor and Elizabeth Fine will become Counsel to the Governor:
Karen Persichilli Keogh brings over two decades of operational and managerial experience to the incoming administration. For seven years, she served on then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's senior staff as New York State Director and campaign manager for her successful 2006 Senate re-election. Ms.Keogh managed the then Senator’s statewide staff, played a vital role in the aftermath of 9/11, including health funding for first responders, and fought to keep military bases open across New York State, including Fort Drum in Jefferson County, New York. She managed U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's transition from the House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate and served as a senior political advisor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2009 campaign. She most recently served as the Head of Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where she managed $2 billion in global philanthropic investments. She joined JPMorgan Chase in 2010 as Managing Director and Head of State and Local Government Relations. Ms. Keogh was born and raised on Long Island (Nassau County) and received her Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Stony Brook University and her Master's degree in Clinical Industrial Social Work from Columbia University. She and her husband live in Brooklyn and are so proud of their beautiful daughter Jessica.
Elizabeth Fine is Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of Empire State Development (ESD), New York’s economic development agency. As chief legal officer of ESD, she is responsible for all aspects of legal representation, guidance, and policies for the state’s principal infrastructure and business development entity. She has a long career in public service at the federal, state, and local level. She served as General Counsel of the New York City Council from 2006-2014. She was responsible for all aspects of legal representation for Council and Speaker. Previously, during seven years at the U.S. Justice Department, she was Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno, and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Policy, among other roles. She served as Special Counsel to the President in the Clinton White House in 1993 and was a counsel to the Clinton-Gore campaign. She began her career as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, working on intellectual property and prison oversight. Ms. Fine is a graduate of Brown University (B.A.), New York University School of Law (J.D.), and Georgetown Law School (L.L.M)
