Governor Kathy Hochul pulled out Thursday evening Democratic Party superstars to help “get out the vote” in midterm elections.
Hochul was joined at Barnard College by Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton among over high-ranking female elected officials, including Anthony General Letitia James and more.
Reaching out to young voters, they drove home a clear message of protecting a woman’s right to choose, gun control, and combating hate speech in the run-up to the Nov. 8 election. Speakers not only listed the issues Kathy Hochul stands for, but they also criticized those which they believe her challenger, Republican Lee Zeldin, does not.
“It’s not just a choice between the two candidates. It is a choice between two very different ideas about who we are as a state and as a country. About if we should work together or not, what kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren,” Clinton told a room full of cheering students. “If you paid attention to this campaign, the Republicans make no secret about what they want to do. They actually say the quiet part out loud.”
It is anti-immigrant and hate rhetoric, attacks on abortion rights, and what speakers cited as assaults on “common sense laws” that Hochul herself doubled down on. She declared that the only reason abortion has not been struck down in New York State is because she is Governor. She placed the power in the hands of the young people, stating that they will be the ones to not only shape the election but also what kind of state they will live in.
“You know why nothing changed in the state of New York? Because I’m the governor,” Hochul said to an auditorium that chanted her name. “To all of you but particularly to the women of New York, this is our moment.”
Hochul embraced both Clinton and Vice President Harris, who had traveled from Washington, DC to help rally around the governor. Harris got a rockstar reception from the crowd, with deafening cheers and raised cellphones recording her entrance. However, her message was a sobering one to supporters, a plea that the very way of life could be at stake.
“We do have five days and sometimes five days can seem like a lot of time, but in this case, we don’t have a lot of time to do something very big, which is to elect Kathy Hochul,” Vice President Harris said. “The governor herself said everything is on the line. And the thing about Kathy Hochul is she has shown you who she is. She has shown you what she cares about, she has shown you how hard she will work for the people of New York.”
Harris paced around the stage and looked out to the young people in attendance and asked for their help.
“We need folks to vote. Folks who haven’t voted, we need them to leave early, and we need them to vote on Election Day. And we can look around this room and I know this is a group of leaders,” Harris said.
The Vice President was then joined by both Hillary Clinton and Kathy Hochul who raised each other’s arms in triumph.
