Gov. Kathy Hochul was ranked the worst state leader in the US for protecting constituents’ freedoms, a scathing new study found.
Hochul ranked No. 50 in the Cato Institute’s 2026 “Freedom in the 50 States” list, scoring an “F” and falling behind the governors from Hawaii, California, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
The annual study weighed the freedom of various state economic and personal policies — such as fiscal, housing, occupational, education, firearms, speech and medical — and graded each state a percentage out of 100 for how its local laws promoted freedoms for each.
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This year’s study was the first to grade individual governors, and graded how their actions in office furthered or hampered their state’s freedoms.
Hochul scored a dismal 18.02% for how her policies promoted New Yorkers’ freedoms.
New York state, meanwhile, ranked 49th in the nation for overall freedoms with a 31.9% score — coming in just ahead of Hawaii at 29.24%.
Although the top and bottom of the gubernatorial freedom rankings largely skewed by party line, the results weren’t so red and blue.
Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis ranked No. 2 overall for freedom promotion, while the Democratic-led Arizona scored No. 1 overall for state freedoms.
There were also three right-leaning states in the bottom 10 rankings — Alabama, South Carolina and Alaska — and two Republican governors.
But Republicans did dominate the top spots — while Democrats largely dominated the bottom, the Cato Institute found.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte landed the top freedom score with a 62.31% and an “A” grade, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took No. 3 at 52.61% and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott landed in fourth at 50.67%.
After the No. 1-ranked Arizona — which went for Trump in the 2024 election, but is helmed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs — Montana took second place followed by Nevada in third and Florida in fourth.
Hochul’s rough landing in the study comes as she’s vying for reelection, with early voting underway and the Nov. 3 midterms day a little more than a week away.
