Kathy Hochul rejects Pelosi blame for 2022 House losses: ‘I don’t agree with that’

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) defended herself against comments from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that suggested she cost the Democrats seats in New York and, by extension, their House majority due to her closer-than-expected gubernatorial run in 2022.

“I’ll tell you this. No governor in the history of the state of New York has worked harder to elect members of Congress than I have,” Hochul said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday. “We are going to win this on the ground because I know how to do this. I now have the chance to focus on this.”

The remarks come in response to an interview with Politico at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, during which Pelosi said the competitive governor’s race in New York contributed to Republicans flipping four Democratic-held seats — thus losing their House majority for the first time in four years.

Hochul only won the deep-blue state against Republican Lee Zeldin by 6 percentage points.

“Well, I think it’s related to the gubernatorial race,” Pelosi said in reference to the poor showing in 2022.

Hochul pushed back on that suggestion, telling MSNBC, “I don’t agree with that.”

Instead, the New York governor pointed to her fundraising efforts for the New York Democratic Party as well as her coordination with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other party leaders across the state.

Hochul noted she would begin turning her “laser focus” to key swing districts in the Hudson Valley, Syracuse, Central New York, and Long Island in the coming weeks as Election Day nears. The governor also indicated she would have more time to campaign on others’ behalf now that she’s “not a candidate this year myself.”

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Pelosi acknowledged she hasn’t spoken to Hochul about election efforts in the 2024 cycle, but the former speaker noted she has worked with Jeffries, whom she referred to as “the future Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.”

“We’re optimistic about our races,” Pelosi said on Thursday.