New York Gov. Kathy Hochul held off a strong challenge from Republican Lee Zeldin to win a full four-year term as the state's leader.
"Given the choice, New Yorkers refused to go backwards on our long march toward progress," Hochul said in a victory speech.
Hochul is the first woman to be elected governor of New York. She was elevated to the office after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo stepped down amid sexual misconduct allegations.
“I have felt a weight on my shoulders to make sure that every little girl and all the women of the state who’ve had to bang up against glass ceilings everywhere they turn, to know that a woman could be elected in her own right and successfully govern a state as rough and tumble as New York," Hochul said.
Hochul brought in Democratic heavyweights including Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the closing days of the campaign. The New York governor was facing a surging Zeldin, who painted Hochul as soft on crime.
Hochul refuted those claims, detailing her record of promoting crime-fighting initiatives.