Kathy Hochul chooses state Senator Brian Benjamin as New York's lieutenant governor
CBSN
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has chosen Brian A. Benjamin, a New York City-based state senator, as her lieutenant governor, a source familiar with the decision tells CBS News.
A formal announcement is expected on Thursday, said the source, who not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Hochul took office on Tuesday after the resignation of former Governor Andrew Cuomo and has the constitutional authority to appoint her lieutenant. She is the first woman to serve as governor of the Empire State and the first person from the western part of the state to hold the job in more than 100 years.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.