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Gov. Hochul Now Also in Favor of Abolishing the Electoral College

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  December 19, 2024 2:30 PM

On Monday, Democratic senators put out a plan to abolish the Electoral College and elect the president solely by the popular vote. They're not the only ones. Just a day later, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), who is in charge of one of the most populous states in the nation, has also come out in favor of abolishing the Electoral College.

Her comments came as Hochul presided over the ceremonial Electoral College vote in Albany, the Washington Examiner highlighted. While Vice President Kamala Harris won New York's 28 electoral votes, she still came up short compared to how President Joe Biden fared in 2020 against then President Donald Trump, winning by 12.6 percent compared to Biden winning by 23.1 percent.

Hochul brought up the Electoral College in context of how the process came about "as a result of compromise" and "consensus", and then offered fake platitudes to the wisdom of our founders. "And in many regards," Hochul claimed, "we honor the talents, the wisdom, and the genius of our Founding Fathers," though she went for a "but" in there.

"But there are shortcomings that still impact us today. I believe that we must reflect on whether the time for this particular institution, the Electoral College, has passed." She then brought up how the Constitution included provisions "that we consider abhorrent," though they were changed by amendments, through the system the founders designed.

Hochul then went for a common refrain but no less dangerous one from the left, claiming that "the founders themselves created a path to amendment our Constitution to keep it a living document, to be adapted, as future generations and circumstances and times require."

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She brought this back to the Electoral College by insisting that, "for the Electoral College, that time has come!"

"Unfairly, less populated states have outsize influence and in effect the votes of their residents count more than the residents of a state like New York," Hochul whined, as she then went over Wyoming to draw a comparison between the least populated state and her own, trying to pit them against each other in a way. She also slammed "the convoluted process," given how candidates are "led to spend an inordinate amount of time in a few swing states rather than appealing to the voters of our entire country." 

Hochul also lamented that "in the worst case scenario,” the system means that "a person can become president of the United States even if he or she did not win the popular vote," as was the case in 2016 when Trump beat Hillary Clinton. 

What Hochul failed to account for on such points is given how populated her state is, New York does have a particularly large share of electoral votes to award to the candidate who wins the state. Wyoming also only has 3 electoral votes. Further, without the Electoral College, presidential candidates would only spend time in places like New York, California, Illinois, Texas, and Florida. 

Hochul then proceeded to claim to speak to what the founders want. "In short, the Electoral College does not contribute to the overriding objective set forth in our great Constitution, 'We the People [in Order to form] a more perfect Union.' And I strongly believe," she continued, her voice reaching a fever pitch, "that the people of New York State, and the United States of America, should and must have their votes count equally and that the popular vote should prevail! It's time to amend the Constitution and relegate the institution of the Electoral College to the history books."

The Washington Examiner also pointed out that in addition to a resolution from Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Peter Welch (D-VT), state Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat who is also running to become the next DNC chairman, has also gone after the Electoral College.

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), who served as Harris' running mate, created one of many headaches for the campaign by coming out against the Electoral College in the weeks before the November 5 election, lamenting how hard it was to campaign in battleground states. Spokespeople for the Harris-Walz campaign put out a clarification that that was not actually the campaign's position. 

Nevertheless, it's still telling that the potentially next DNC chairman has attacked the system we've had since our founding, with the Electoral College process being in our Constitution.

Skoufis reposted a picture of Hochul calling for abolishing the Electoral College, also echoing that call. Many of the replies to Skoufis called him and other New York Democrats out, especially for the gerrymandering process for the 2022 elections and then again for this year, following court battles.

There's fears that without the Electoral College, heavily populated states, such as Hochul's own, as well as bright blue California and Illinois, would have more of a role in deciding presidential elections. The system, which has been in place from our founding, is in place to protect states with smaller populations, giving their people a say as well in elections and to be protected from the majority, which the founders worried and warned about.

As at least Hochul recognizes, abolishing the Electoral College would have to be done by a constitutional amendment. While Democratic senators introduced a plan to do just that on Monday, a post over X from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Durbin chairs, referenced them merely having introduced a "bill."