Karen DeWitt is reporting for WSKG-TV Kathy Hochul will make history January 1, when she is sworn in as governor and begins her first full term in office. In November, Hochul became the first female governor to be elected in the state’s history. “The glass ceiling, like the one that’s above us here today, has finally been shattered in the state of New York, and you made it happen,” Hochul told supporters in lower Manhattan on November 8. She will begin her term with a swearing-in ceremony and speech on New Year’s Day. The Buffalo native replaced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in August 2021 over sexual harassment and other scandals. Hochul raised a record $45 million for her campaign and won election in the closest gubernatorial race in the state in nearly a quarter-century. She will oversee a budget during a time when the state does not have as much money as it did last year and is also facing an increasingly independent-minded State Legislature, where Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses. In addition, Hochul faces calls from Republicans, who are in the minority in the Legislature, to enact more anti-crime legislation. And she begins the new year with obstacles for her choice as the state’s next chief judge, appellate court Justice Hector LaSalle. At least a dozen senators from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, including Saugerties Democrat Michelle Hinchey, say LaSalle’s record is too conservative and they will not vote to confirm him. After she is officially sworn in, Hochul has two more major speeches in January — first to lay out her plans in a State of the State message, followed by a budget presentation, outlining the state’s spending priorities for the coming year. Read more at WSKG [dot] org.