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CHICAGO — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul joined journalist Margaret Talev, director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship, for an intimate conversation at the Axios House in downtown Chicago on Tuesday for the second day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Hochul used her time with Talev, a professor of practice at SU’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the 2024 United States presidential election. The governor also appealed to working class voters and promoted Micron Technology’s investment in Syracuse.

Talev is also a senior contributor at Axios and is based in Washington, D.C., where she teaches magazine, news and digital journalism at SU’s institute. She interviewed Hochul one-on-one as part of Axios’ DNC programming.

“Gov. Hochul is an especially important voice this year in Democratic politics — because of her own path from lieutenant governor to becoming New York’s first female governor, and because a half-dozen vulnerable Republican-held House seats in New York may hold the key to Democrats’ efforts to regain control of Congress,” Talev told The Daily Orange.

Hochul told Talev she thinks that six New York House seats could be flipped, but that she’d settle for four. She spotlighted a seat flip win she said she’d already accomplished — when Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi won the seat that had been vacated when Republican former Rep. George Santos was fired from Congress in December.

Talev kicked off their conversation by asking Hochul, as the first woman to lead New York state, to share any wisdom with Harris, potentially the first woman president. Hochul responded by saying Harris “doesn’t need my advice, she’s rocking this,” and mentioned how her own sudden transition from lieutenant governor to governor showed her how to move powerfully through the political world as a woman. Hochul also said she agrees with Harris’s instincts not to make her message all about gender.

“She has the credentials, male or female, that says she’s ready for this job. So let’s just get it out there right now. I think there’s a lot of people excited about, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the first (female president), little girls will know there’s no more barriers,’” Hochul said. “But don’t overlook … (she has) a damn good resume, no matter whether it’s a male or female.”

Shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July, Hochul released a statement on X endorsing Harris and said she is “confident she will deliver for New Yorkers” and is “proud to stand beside” her.

Hochul joined several other New York delegates and public figures during the DNC’s roll call ceremony later Tuesday night, where they cast 298 ballots for the Harris-Walz ticket on behalf of the state of New York.

Hochul has taken on a visible role at the convention after speaking on the DNC’s prime-time stage Monday night. She spent the majority of her speech taking aim at Harris’s rival, Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump, saying he lacks the “grit, determination, compassion” that she, Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s vice president pick, grew up with.

Hochul has also spent time at the convention sharing her personal experience growing up in a working class family. She pointed to her childhood in a trailer park in Lackawanna, New York, which she said she revisits when back in the area. Hochul said her journey from working class beginnings to her current office reinforces her belief that the “American dream” she lived should be achievable for all.

“I go to the local diner, I let people know that I’ve not forgotten them. And that’s the power that we have in elected office. That’s the power that the Democratic Party should be using. We don’t forget people like that,” Hochul said.

During her Monday prime-time speech, Hochul focused on her efforts to support the working class by highlighting Micron’s $100 billion investment in the city of Syracuse and the jobs it’s set to bring to the area. The microchip fabrication complex will be in Clay, just 10 minutes from Syracuse, and received an additional $6.1 billion in federal funding in April.

Talev asked Hochul whether she believes employees at microchip factories in the US, including Micron, should unionize. Without directly answering the question, Hochul said union workers will construct Micron facilities over the next 20 years and that its arrival will create around 50,000 jobs in central New York — accomplishments she attributed to leaders including herself, Biden and Harris.

“That is not happening anywhere else in the country. It’s not happening anywhere in the world, but it’s happening in New York because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris made that a priority to help me deliver this for the state of New York,” Hochul said. “I had to come up with $10 billion in incentives to land $100 billion in business. I’ll do that any day of the week to create all those jobs.”

Responding to Hochul’s commitment to unions building the Micron facility, Talev pressed the governor on whether the chipmaking jobs themselves should also be unionized. Hochul said that the decision to unionize will be “up to the workers.”

“All I know is I made sure there were union jobs to build this for 20 years, and those are good paying jobs that were not there before,” Hochul said.

SU and Micron have formed an “academic partnership” and, as part of the university’s Academic Strategic Plan, SU is expanding its College of Engineering and Computer Science in anticipation for Micron’s arrival.

Hochul, an SU alumna who graduated in 1980, added that she spent four years of her life “loving” Syracuse University, and gave a “Go Orange” shout-out to Tuesday’s audience.

The governor has made appearances at several other DNC events throughout the week, including Tuesday’s Michigan delegation breakfast, Tuesday’s Women’s Caucus meeting and a fireside chat with former president John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, Wednesday morning. The convention will conclude Thursday night.

Published on August 21, 2024 at 11:59 pm

Contact Ahna: arflemin@syr.edu