Kathy Hochul takes the oath of office as New York State’s first elected female Governor (January 1, 2023)

Kathy Hochul was inaugurated Sunday as New York State’s first elected female governor.

Hochul took office in August 2021 after then-Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior.

She was elected by voters in November, defeating Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.

Hochul said she’d get into policy more in her State of the State address this month, but cited housing affordability and energy affordability among other topics in her inaugural address, “And the gun violence epidemic, my gosh. The loss of lives goes on and on. The rise in hate crimes. What happened here? Especially antisemitism, Asian hate, anti LGBTQ hate and the systemic racism that still persists to this day. Those are the fights we are called to take on. We must.”

Hochul also mentioned the lingering effects of the pandemic as well as women’s rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Tom DiNapoli also took the oath of office on Sunday as New York’s second-longest serving Comptroller of more than 15 years. Letitia James was sworn in a second time as Attorney General and Antonio Delgado was sworn in as the state’s Lieutenant Governor, his first full term.