(WETM) – When New York Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul is sworn in as the state’s first female Governor, her husband William J. Hochul Jr. will, in turn, become New York’s first “First Gentleman.”
Born in Buffalo, William J. Hochul Jr. graduated from Cheektowaga Central High School and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame. He later earned his Juris Doctor from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Hochul Jr. joined the U.S. Department of Justice in 1987 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1991 he moved to the Western District of New York office where he held the same position and later became chief of the office’s anti-terrorism unit following September 11, 2001. In 2006 he was named chief of the national security division.
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Hochul Jr. served as lead prosecutor in several international terrorism cases, including the prosecution of the Lackawanna Six, the first known instance of Americans traveling to train with al Qaeda.
Hochul Jr. was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2010 as the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York and served until 2016.
Hochul Jr. currently serves as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Delaware North, a hospitality and gaming company that owns TD Gardens in Boston.
In his role, Hochul manages the legal function for the company and provides advice and counsel to senior management in all legal matters involving Delaware North or its operating companies.
Delaware North website
According to his LinkedIn, Hochul Jr. is an Adjunct Professor at the University at Buffalo.
New York will become the seventh state to have an active “First Gentleman” with eight states already having female Governors. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham are not currently married.
Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, and South Dakota also have female Governors.
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Lt. Governor Hochul’s swearing-in comes after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday afternoon that he would resign in 14 days amid the New York State Attorney General’s report that he allegedly sexually harassed 11 women, including state employees.
