Hochul inauguration: Where to watch Jan. 1 ceremony to start governor's first full term

She inherited her office after Andrew Cuomo's unceremonious exit last year and won it in her own right on Nov. 8, an unexpectedly narrow victory that made her the first woman to be elected New York governor.

On New Year's Day, Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Buffalo-bred Democrat who stepped into the spotlight after six and a half years as Cuomo's lieutenant governor, will be sworn in for a four-year term at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. Her 2 p.m. inauguration will be streamed live on the governor's website, governor.ny.gov.

Also taking their oaths of office at that event are a trio of fellow Democrats who won statewide races: Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado, Attorney General Letitia James and Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. All four are set to speak after being sworn in.

Hochul's remarks will serve as a prelude to two agenda-setting speeches she will deliver in January: her State of the State address on Jan. 10 and her annual budget presentation, which has not yet been scheduled. The latter will outline her administration's second spending plan since she succeeded Cuomo in August 2021.

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Hochul, 64, beat Republican Lee Zeldin by 6 percentage points or about 380,000 votes, an unusually close race in a state where Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by 2-to-1 and no Republican has won statewide office in 20 years. Zeldin focused his campaign on crime and made inroads on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley, helping Republicans flip congressional seats there.

Hochul starts her first full term as governor with Democratic super-majorities in both the 63-seat Senate and 150-seat Assembly.

As part of her inauguration, Hochul's office has invited New York students to describe how they plan to make a difference this year, presented in writing or as a drawing or video. Winning entries will be posted on social media.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for the Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Hochul Jan. 1 inauguration starts her first full term as NY governor