Down the hill from the State Capitol on Sunday, you would never know that Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York was struggling in the polls or facing a re-election fight next year.
As she screamed with joy after her beloved Buffalo Bills seemed to have recovered a fumble, it was clear that Ms. Hochul was among friends at McGeary’s Irish Pub, a stalwart hangout in downtown Albany that has long been a safe space for Bills fans.
She turned and saw a man who was decked out in Bills colors and sporting a jersey beneath a blue jacket, and a foam chicken wing atop his head. The governor, wearing her own Bills cap and shoes emblazoned with the team’s logo, did what any self-respecting Bills fan would do.
She slapped the fan’s chicken wing — a celebration that was a bit premature. The play was nullified by a penalty.
“This is an emotional roller coaster,” she said to no one in particular.
The play would be a harbinger of later disappointment, something Bills fans have grown accustomed to. It has been more than three decades since they last made it to the Super Bowl, and their last four appearances ended badly.
What might be more surprising to voters not from western New York is the unquestioned loyalty of Ms. Hochul, a Buffalo native who is probably the first governor of New York to be a rabid Bills fan. (Ms. Hochul is not the first governor from western New York, but the ones who preceded her also preceded the Bills’ existence by several decades.)
Her allegiance to the team is no secret. In fact, it comes up in most press briefings and in one constituent interaction after another. Her social media feed is full of photos of her in Bills apparel and at Bills games. At an official event last year about the future of the state’s energy sector, though, she muffed a team reference when she referred to the Bills quarterback as Marv Levy. (Mr. Levy is a former head coach of the Bills; the quarterback is Josh Allen.)
Still, her working knowledge of the team and its history is impressive. She said she was excited when Buffalo named a street in honor of Mr. Allen, who has been central to the team’s revitalization and may win the Most Valuable Player Award this season.
This level of politician fandom is not new, but the state has not had an elected official this obsessed with a single team since former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani sat hunched behind home plate at Yankees games during the team’s long period of dominance in the late 1990s.
Her allegiance has even led to some political blowback. Ms. Hochul continues to trumpet a widely criticized 2022 deal that funneled $850 million in public funds, including $600 million in state dollars, to help the team build a $1.4 billion stadium. At the time, it was the largest-ever taxpayer contribution for the home of a pro football franchise.
The team of her childhood — the team that her brothers cheered for and her family obsessed over — had threatened to leave the state without the deal, and that was simply not an option, she said on Sunday.
When she was a child growing up in a large Irish Catholic family, she said, not being conversant about the team meant you were out of the loop. “I gave them a home,” she said as her husband, Bill, stood behind her, nervously watching the game. He previously worked as an executive at Delaware North, a conglomerate that once had a longtime business relationship with the team.
“I gave them a 30-year lease,” she said. “I gave a commitment to the community that they are not going anywhere. That is a big deal. I think I have done what I need to do for the Bills.”
At McGeary’s, her Bills bona fides went unquestioned. The pub’s patrons mobbed and embraced Ms. Hochul and insisted she chug her beer, lead them in cheers and take selfies during the game.
The governor often obliged. She knelt down alongside one fan, Carrie Mallison, as the two clinked their glasses and took slugs of their drinks. When the bar’s owner, Tess Collins, asked whether the governor wanted another round, Ms. Hochul said that one was enough. Journalists were lurking. A plate of wings would suffice.
“The Bills fans won’t trust you if you are not drunk,” Ms. Collins replied, laughing.
On their first possession of the second quarter, the Bills scored and the bar erupted. Ms. Mallison found Ms. Hochul and they began to do a modified version of the dance associated with “Shout” by the Isley Brothers.
“The Bills make me wanna SHOUT!” the fans sang.
As Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, gears up for a re-election run in 2026, she has emphasized her suburban roots in a state where political power and its personalities normally emanate from New York City and Long Island.
“It is great that the governor is from our town,” said Samantha Burgio, a Buffalo native who works as a school counselor in Albany. “I tell people all the time: ‘The governor is from Buffalo!’”
Ms. Hochul had intended to leave McGeary’s while the game was still in progress, and she kept to that plan. After the Bills scored a touchdown in the second-quarter, the governor made her way to the exit. It was just too nerve-racking, she said. She needed to go back to the executive mansion and focus.
The team had made some mistakes, and she said they were nervous. She was, too.
Grabbing her Bills letterman jacket, she posed for more selfies, high-fived several more fans and departed. The mood of the bar remained mostly festive.
That, of course, would change by game’s end: The Bills lost in a nail-biter, 32-29, with the Kansas City Chiefs advancing to the Super Bowl to face the Philadelphia Eagles. Some wiped away tears as the Chiefs celebrated on the field in Kansas City. Others hugged companions whom they had imbibed beside all season.
It was a season to be proud of. Monday, though, would be difficult.
“I am just going to bury my head in my hands for eight hours straight,” one fan said.
Ms. Hochul did not let the moment pass without a rallying cry. “Thank you to the Buffalo Bills for one hell of a ride,” she said on X. “Proud of this team and the greatest fans in America.”
The post Where Might Gov. Hochul Be Among Friends? At a Buffalo Bills Bar. appeared first on New York Times.
