Hochul rebuttal pokes fun at LCA, declares 2025 show ‘still sucks’

Gov. Kathy Hochul roasted the Albany press corps and her political rivals last night following the annual Legislative Correspondents Association show. The theme of this year’s LCA show was “The Wonderful World of Albany” – a take on “Wicked” that featured Capital Tonight’s Kate Lisa (in a green dress and witch hat) as Hochul, City & State’s own Rebecca C. Lewis and Austin C. Jefferson as state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, The Buffalo News’ Rob Gavin as President Donald Trump and former New York State Public Radio reporter Karen DeWitt (dressed like Dorothy) as Rep. Elise Stefanik.

The governor continued the Wicked theme in her rebuttal, comparing elected officials to key characters from the movie, with herself as the authoritarian Wizard of Oz, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins as Glinda (“wearing a really nice matching scarf”), Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie as Elphaba and state Sen. James Skoufis to Boq Woodsman, “that annoying classmate (who) sits on the sidelines, whining like a baby.”

Skoufis has traded barbs with the governor’s press team ever since he harshly criticized Hochul’s handling of the budget, and he saw the governor’s mention of him in her rebuttal as a sign that he had really gotten under her skin. “I am thrilled she found it fitting to give me so much time in her rebuttal last night," Skoufis told City & State, adding that the actor who played Boq in the Wicked movie ended up dating Ariana Grande, so being compared to the character could be worse. 

Hochul took the opportunity to go after other critics and rivals as well, including Delgado, Stefanik and Rep. Mike Lawler. “Some things stay the same: The budget? Still late. Your show? Still sucks. Mike Lawler? Still not going to be governor,” she joked.

Hochul filmed a whole segment set at a diner where she asked patrons whether they would like to be her new lieutenant governor and ended up choosing an 18-year-old college student to replace Delgado. But technical difficulties prevented the video from actually being played during the show, so the governor had to describe it instead, while assuring the audience that it was actually hilarious and they would really enjoy it once they finally got the chance to watch it.

Following the governor’s rebuttal, Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt delivered the Republican response to the show – a lengthy and lavishly produced sketch that featured him as a late-night radio host counseling callers on their relationship troubles. The sketch went on for too long, and its central conceit that callers’ political disputes reflected relationship issues –  state Attorney General Letitia James and President Donald Trump were portrayed as a couple locked in a bitter divorce, for example – was a bit strained, but it still featured a few laughs, including descriptions of the callers as “Letitia from Virginia” (a reference to the federal investigation into whether James misrepresented her primary residence) and “Andrew from Purchase – I mean Queens.”

Toward the end of her rebuttal, Hochul joked that the press had already pre-written their negative reviews of her performance, displaying fake front pages from publications like the New York Post and City & State. “The 2025 Power List: People Who Didn’t Laugh at Hochul’s LCA Speech,” the fake City & State cover read. “#1 Liz Krueger.”