Get to know New York’s first female governor

Kathy Hochul is about to become New York's first female governor

when she takes over following Andrew Cuomo's resignation

Here are some key facts about her

1/EDUCATION

Now 62, Hochul graduated from Syracuse in 1980

and earned her law degree from Catholic University in 1984

2/CAREER

After a stint at a Washington law firm

she served as a legal and legislative aid to congressman John LaFalce

and then to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan

She served 14 years on the town council in Hamburg, a town south of Buffalo, New York

Afterwards, then-Governor Eliot Spitzer appointed her clerk in Erie County

She held this post until winning a New York congressional election in 2011

in a district that had not gone to a Democrat in 40 years

3/CUOMO TICKET

Andrew Cuomo asked Hochul to join the gubernatorial ticket in 2014

Cuomo and Hochul won that year and again in 2018

4/LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

She has served as lieutenant governor since 2015

In her role, Hochul chairs 10 economic development councils

that invest in projects across the state

She also led Cuomo’s “Enough is Enough” campaign in 2015