Her subsequent, publicly leftward shift reflects the political necessity of running for statewide office, where the median voter is far to the left of that in Hochul’s former congressional district.
That shift included a vastly different stance on guns.
During her 2014 campaign for Lieutenant Governor, Hochul called the failure of Congress to pass background check legislation a “disgrace” following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut that left 20 children dead.
She also doubled down on support for the Cuomo Administration’s signature gun control law, the SAFE Act, passed in the wake of that shooting that killed 26 people.
Speaking at a pro-gun control rally near New Paltz in 2018, Hochul celebrated the law’s passage and came out in strong support of other gun control measures, including so-called Red Flag Laws.
“We’re talking about banning assault weapons, we did it here in New York,” Hochul said. “Background checks; what’s wrong with making sure people who shouldn’t have guns don’t have them?”
good riddance! https://t.co/jsyYdoYhe2
— Kathy Hochul (@KathyHochul) August 3, 2018
Hochul also broke publicly with the NRA. In 2018, she tweeted support for the effort by Governor Cuomo to sanction the gun-rights group, which was at the time incorporated in New York.
The wholesale reversal is stark, especially considering Hochul’s previous endorsement from the gun lobby.
— Ryan Finnerty in Kathy Hochul’s evolving stance on gun control
