Hochul, SUNY and Trump: A conversation with New York political insider Liz Benjamin

On this episode of The Voice Podcast, UUP president and host Fred Kowal talks state and national politics with Liz Benjamin , the former host of Spectrum News's statewide political program “Capital Tonight." Benjamin, who spent 15 years as a hard-hitting political print reporter and columnist for the Albany Times Union and the New York Daily News, moved to Spectrum in 2010. In 2019, she became a managing director of Marathon Strategies , a national public relations firm specializing in strategic and political communications. She opened the firm’s Albany office just weeks after stepping away from “Capital Tonight” and her State of Politics blog. Benjamin is known as an astute political insider who knows personally the movers and shakers in state politics. Last year, The New York Times printed her essay on Gov. Kathy Hochul, provocatively titled “ Genial and Respectful? Why New York’s Next Governor Is a Radical.” Kowal and Benjamin discuss the 2023-2024 state budget, the effectiveness of Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature and how SUNY fared in the state budget. They also talk about recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and national politics, including Donald Trump's chances in the Republican presidential primary and possibly the 2024 presidential election.