“The lesson of tonight’s victory is that given the choice, New Yorkers refuse to go backward on our long march toward progress,” she said in brief remarks.
A career Democrat from western New York who has frequently been overlooked and underestimated, Ms. Hochul also took moments to bask in what she had accomplished in 15 months since Andrew M. Cuomo resigned in the face of sexual harassment claims. In New York’s more than 230-year history, spanning 57 governors, Tuesday marked the first time that voters had chosen a woman to lead them.
It was also the first time New York has elected a governor from upstate New York in close to a century.
“The road here from Buffalo was not always easy,” Ms. Hochul said. “Yes, the glass ceiling, like the one that’s above us here today, has finally been shattered in the State of New York.”
Ms. Hochul’s campaign had raised doubts about whether Mr. Zeldin, who helped spread doubts about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, would accept the outcome in New York. As he trailed around midnight, Mr. Zeldin refused to concede, saying there were too many uncounted ballots, and he expected the results would “continue to get closer and closer and closer.”
Ms. Hochul’s win did not come with lengthy coattails in down-ballot legislative races.
Mr. Schumer, a Democrat, handily won a fifth term by defeating Joe Pinion, all but ensuring that he will soon become the longest-serving senator in New York’s history. It remained in doubt whether he would hold onto the Senate majority he leads.