Kathy Hochul criticized after local government democracy comments
New York Governor Kathy Hochul was recently criticized after comments surrounding the democracy of voting in local elections. She first made these comments on her personal Twitter account and this gained over 300 comments in the replies section. Unfortunately for Hochul, many of these criticized her announcement and used it to point out flaws in her leadership.
Specifically, Hochul wrote: ‘When New Yorkers don’t vote in local elections, they miss a chance to make their voice heard in local government. Today I took action to align many of our local elections with legislative and statewide ones to improve voter participation and promote a more inclusive democracy.’
Responding to this, one user named Christopher Chichest claimed: “How does a governor “align” a local election? It’s astonishing the fanaticism this accident of history unleashes on NY. Nelson Rockefeller, Hugh Carey, Mario Cuomo, and George Pataki didn’t go nuts to “align” local elections. New Yorkers left NY this week. Forever. This extremist is not there.”
Similarly, another user named Will Truitt added: “A more inclusive democracy? “Aligning” is one hell of a way to characterize your gutting of local municipal elections. When residents go to the ballot box to elect their town, city, and county representatives, their focus should solely be on those races – not Federal & State.”
Despite Hochul’s plea for more voters in New York, it looks as though this was met with lots of cynicism. In fairness, this cynicism may be on to something as well.
