On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York found herself in a situation she had hoped would never come to pass: on the phone congratulating Donald J. Trump, the Republican president-elect.
Ms. Hochul, the leader of the nation’s second largest Democratic state, was an outspoken surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris during the presidential campaign. She spent months warning that Mr. Trump’s return to power posed an existential threat to what New York values, from abortion rights to immigration.
But confronted with his sweeping victory this week, including surprising gains in deep blue pockets of New York, Ms. Hochul appears more inclined toward cooperation than combat — at least for now.
In sober remarks after the election results became clear, the governor stressed that New York was once again prepared to fight if Washington targets the state’s liberal abortion, gun and climate laws. Far from declaring herself part of the resistance, though, Ms. Hochul said she was ready to work with “him or anybody regardless of party.”
She said she delivered a similar message directly to Mr. Trump in a private call, stressing her opposition to curtailing abortion access but also the possibilities for collaboration around revitalizing Penn Station, the subways and the state’s budding semiconducting industry.
Both sides described the conversation as cordial.
It was a sharp tone shift away from that of other prominent Democratic governors. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California quickly stepped back into the role of opposition leader, announcing a special legislative session “to safeguard California values and fundamental rights.” In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker mocked Mr. Trump’s competence and vowed to be “a warrior” for Democratic values. “You come for my people, you come through me,” he said.
Allies and advisers say Ms. Hochul, a lifelong moderate, sees things differently. She believes the election showed that even many Democratic voters are tired of the party’s reflexive anti-Trump stances and want to see progress in reducing crime, housing costs and illegal immigration.
A lifelong New Yorker, Mr. Trump has expressed special interest in playing a role in the city’s future. He will also soon hold sway over significant sources of funding propping up New York City’s subway, the state’s nascent chips manufacturing business, tax policy and a congestion pricing plan that Ms. Hochul may be moving to revive before he takes office.
Unlike Mr. Newsom and Mr. Pritzker, two liberals thought to be angling for potential presidential runs, Ms. Hochul is staring down a difficult re-election fight in 2026 in a state where Mr. Trump just made deep inroads by grabbing key planks of the Democratic coalition.
Mr. Trump’s first term inspired strong backlash that lifted Democrats in New York and across the country, and Ms. Hochul may eventually benefit from a similar dynamic, too. But for now, polls indicate that voters remarkably view Mr. Trump — once considered a pariah in his home state — slightly more favorably than Ms. Hochul.
“No one right now just wants a leader or a governor to go out and punch Trump in the face before he’s even done anything,” said Lis Smith, a Democratic strategist who served as a spokeswoman for former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s successful 2018 campaign.
“Voters said pretty strongly that you can’t just run on an anti-Trump message,” she said.
There are factors working in favor of Ms. Hochul’s initial approach. She and the president-elect have neither personal history nor much baggage. She is less pugnacious than Mr. Cuomo, her predecessor who frequently sparred with Mr. Trump.
Ms. Hochul may also have some leverage, even if it seems unlikely that she will use it. As governor, she holds the power to pardon Mr. Trump or commute any sentence he receives after being found guilty earlier this year in Manhattan for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 campaign.
The Republican made New York a frequent punching bag on the campaign trail, presenting his former hometown as an emblem of the Democratic misrule he blamed for American decline. But he also made overtures that, if sincere, could provide an opening for collaboration.
At a rally in the Bronx, he pledged he would collaborate with the state’s Democratic leaders to “get this state and this city at a level that it’s never seen before.” Sounding more mayoral than presidential, he vowed to clean up homeless encampments, get “the severely mentally ill off your streets,” and renovate the city’s aging subway system.
“It’s in the best interest of New Yorkers for our leadership to recognize that while there may be differences, we want to help New York,” said Representative Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island, the city’s lone Republican congresswoman.
Still, it is hard to overestimate the complexity of the challenge ahead for Ms. Hochul.
Mr. Trump has a long history of expressing interest in collaboration only to renege. Mr. Cuomo thought he was nearing a deal with him for major federal infrastructure investments in 2020. But after Mr. Cuomo criticized the then-president at the Democratic National Convention that year, the White House cut off the talks, according to a former aide’s account.
Mr. Trump similarly took umbrage this summer when Ms. Hochul attacked him in a speech at this year’s D.N.C. He called her the “nastiest speaker” and accused her of overseeing a “rigged” judicial system. (The two later had a more friendly exchange at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City.)
There are also outright political and governmental risks for Ms. Hochul if she is perceived as too compliant with Mr. Trump.
He rode back to office after trying to overturn his 2020 election loss, has said he would dedicate his first day in office to acting like a dictator, pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and to impose tariffs that could disrupt the state’s economy.
The progressive left, which makes up a key swath of the Democratic coalition, is already pressing Ms. Hochul to use the party’s hold on Albany to fight back, beginning by calling a special legislative session to try to protect undocumented immigrants in the state from deportation.
Ms. Hochul is also under considerable pressure from environmental groups, some business interests and transit advocates to quickly finalize a long-planned congestion pricing plan projected to generate $15 billion for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to improve its system.
Ms. Hochul paused the program earlier this year, citing concerns that the $15 toll for drivers entering central Manhattan would hurt the city’s economy and struggling residents at a time when both are still recovering from pandemic-era disruptions. She still has those concerns.
But Ms. Hochul has also spoken to federal officials about restarting the plan with a $9 toll, possibly putting it in place before Mr. Trump, who opposes the plan and could try to kill it, takes office.
Ms. Hochul has given conflicting signals on how she may proceed.
Ana María Archila, co-director of the left-leaning Working Families Party in New York, said she worried Ms. Hochul was taking the wrong lessons from Tuesday’s election.
“People are frustrated by a political system that doesn’t help them live their lives,” she said. “We have two years to demonstrate that government can actually help, and we have two years to prevent further erosion and further migration of working-class voters.”
At a news conference on Wednesday, Ms. Hochul sought to reassure the state that its leaders were prepared to respond to Mr. Trump’s victory.
Ms. Hochul said she had empaneled a task force to study “statutory, regulatory and fiscal vulnerabilities” to recommend state policy changes that might insulate that state’s approach to immigration, reproductive rights and climate change.
But it was Letitia James, the state’s attorney general, who sounded more ready to wield the hammer when she took the microphone after her.
Ms. James, who won a $454 million civil fraud judgment against Mr. Trump this year, indicated her office was gearing up.
“We know their playbook,” she said. “We’re ready to respond to their attacks.”
The post Hochul, in Unwanted Position, Says She Is Ready to Work With Trump appeared first on New York Times.
