8 October 2021: Hochul's Leadership Failure Opens Door to Valid Political Attacks

Republican chairman slams Hochul on nursing home deaths

In light of the leadership failure it reflects, this report describing the reaction of New York's Republican Party chair to Jim Malatras' remaining in office is not surprising. It confirms Malatras' ouster because of his confirmed but not fully explained role in the Cuomo administration's attempted cover-up of the Cuomo nursing home deaths scandal was anticipated. When his resignation or removal from office didn't materialize within the 45-day deadline Kathy Hochul indicated after becoming New York's replacement Governor, it left her open to valid political attacks:

When she took over state government six weeks ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled she needed 45 days to clean house by replacing appointed officials involved in scandals tied to her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo.

But state Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy came to the statehouse Thursday to dispute that claim, arguing Hochul has left in place many Cuomo loyalists, including the head of the 64-campus State University system, James Malatras.

Langworthy argued New Yorkers have been expecting Hochul to address the controversies surrounding the Cuomo administration’s undercount of COVID-19 fatalities at nursing homes by replacing all officials who had a hand in producing a state Health Department report whose conclusions have been strongly disputed by state Attorney General Letitia James.

“Kathy Hochul has talked really tough about giving the boot to everyone named in the report on sexual harassment, but she has done nothing but sweep under the rug the entire nursing home scandal,” New York’s top Republican said. “Malatras still enjoys her full confidence. He is sitting over there at SUNY, making $450,000 a year, but he has blood on his hands from what we know about the nursing home coverup.”

Requesting Malatras' resignation from SUNY was the minimum action Hochul needed to take in this case. She has only herself to blame for failing to address it within her own self-imposed deadline.

While the Republican chair was the first to prominently spotlight Hochul's failure, we should note it all but invites a serious response from Democratic Party members who are being encouraged to run for NY Governor in 2022. Hochul's leadership failure in allowing Malatras to remain employed in New York's state government makes her path to election as New York's Governor more difficult.