Aglow in a stellar start Kathy Hochul has been a bright light since her election six months ago, but she's not distracted by talk of her as a party leader because 'I know who put me here'

And it's a place she has kept walking back into ever since.

Rather than retreating to the back bench where most freshman House members are consigned, she has talked about jobs with the president, welcomed him to the House chamber for a speech, pushed for major attention-grabbing amendments and remained a familiar face on cable news programs.

"I think she's going to be a real leader," said Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, second-ranking Democrat in the House.

Then again, local Republicans see Hochul's high profile as proof that the Amherst Democrat is not the district-centered voice of moderation that her campaign portrayed her to be.

Hochul denies any interest in joining the House Democratic leadership and insists that every moment she spends in the spotlight is aimed at helping her district.

"I will use that access whenever it is available to me to push my district," she said. "I will take advantage of every bit of it."

Hochul has taken advantage of big opportunities time and again since her upset victory over Republican Assemblywoman Jane L. Corwin in New York's Republican-leaning 26th Congressional District.

Within days of Hochul's swearing-in, party leaders asked her to speak during a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus and again during a session at the White House, where she was granted a private meeting with President Obama afterward.

Then, over the summer, Democratic leaders asked her to introduce a high-profile measure on the House floor that would cut tax breaks to Big Oil and to deliver the party's closing argument against House Speaker John A. Boehner's Republican plan to drastically cut federal spending in return for an increase in the nation's debt ceiling.

And when Obama visited the House in September, he was accompanied by the usual cadre of House leaders -- and Kathy Hochul.

The Democratic leadership keeps showcasing Hochul for several reasons, party leaders said.

Her victory in a Republican-leaning district made her "a great hero of ours," said Hoyer, the House Democratic whip.

Besides, Democratic members of the House view Hochul as someone "who's very much in touch with her own district" and who can prove that Democrats, too, can be sensitive to small-business issues, Hoyer said.

> 'Easy to work with'

Being telegenic and articulate hasn't hurt, either.

"We knew that if she were given the opportunity, she would turn in a great performance," Hoyer said.

But is a walk down the political aisle with Obama the kind of performance that voters in the 26th District will relish?

Local Republicans don't think so.

"She went right into the wheelhouse of the amen choir of the Nancy Pelosi chorus," said David Bellavia, referring to the California congresswoman who had been House speaker and is now minority leader.

Bellavia, an Iraq War veteran from Batavia who is thinking about challenging Hochul in 2012, added, "What I don't think she understands is that the 26th District is not Obama country."

Erie County Republican Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy expressed similar sentiments. He said he was surprised that after campaigning down the middle of the road, she campaigned hard to elect Democrat Mark C. Poloncarz as Erie County executive. She also cut an ad for Maria R. Whyte, the party's candidate for county clerk, the post that Hochul vacated when she was elected to Congress.

"She's been a lot more partisan than I expected," Langworthy said.

Hearing such criticism, the Hochul camp points to her record.

For one thing, she joined Rep. Richard L. Hanna, R-N.Y., in introducing and pushing a bill that would help dairy farmers hire temporary legal immigrant workers.

"She's a very pleasant lady, and she's aware that farms are having this problem, and she knows it's important," Hanna said. "She's easy to work with. Not everyone down here is as crazy as it looks."

Beyond that, Hochul's work on the Homeland Security Committee has cut across partisan lines.

> Bucking the party line

So far, the committee has passed three of her amendments: calling for aid for small businesses on government contracts, more attention to northern border security and a "make it in America" requirement for agency uniforms. The first of those measures drew one "no" vote from a GOP lawmaker, while the other two passed unanimously.

By no means has Hochul been voting in lockstep with the Democratic leadership. She opposed Obama on a floor vote regarding U.S. involvement in Libya as well as on three free-trade deals, and is expected to vote today for a Republican-sponsored measure that would allow people with permits to carry guns across state lines.

To Hochul, occasionally bucking the party line is all part of representing her district, a sprawling stretch of suburbs, small towns and farmland between Buffalo and Rochester.

She returns to the district every weekend and spends plenty of time there visiting Chambers of Commerce, small businesses and the diners that were her favorite haunts during her campaign. She said she's also spending time on the phone and in person trying to lure businesses to her district.

"I can't wait to cut loose from here," Hochul said in an interview in her Washington office. "Get me on a plane and back home where I can engage, where I get the ideas, and where I hear from people about what they need."

Given that mind-set, Hochul dismissed the notion that she will be moving up the ranks of the House Democratic leadership any time soon.

"At this point, I would absolutely rule it out," she said. "That is not on my radar screen. I know who put me here. I am very district-focused. So I wouldn't want the extra responsibilities other than what the voters sent me here to do."

Hochul said she's willing to help her party by pushing high-profile amendments or acting on occasion as a party spokesperson -- so long as she can keep the focus on her district.

> Seeking bipartisanship

Still, it's not hard to imagine a GOP campaign ad next fall that shows Hochul walking into the House chamber with Obama.

So how, really, does she think the president is doing?

"I think there were a lot of distractions early on in the administration." she said.

"I think they thought that [the economic downturn] was over, and it's not over, so now the president has pivoted and come back to where we should have been and need to continue to be focused -- on jobs."

Hochul also makes a point that Congress needs to be focused on bipartisanship.

She has done interviews recently on CNN and Fox pushing a bipartisan solution on jobs, albeit one based on the bill Obama introduced. And she has expressed interest in possibly forming a "Why Can't We Just Get Along Caucus" of like-minded lawmakers.

To some Republicans, that's just more headline-grabbing from a politician whose penchant for newsmaking stretches back to her days as county clerk.

"She seems to be very focused on her national profile, still," Langworthy said.

But it was obvious that Hochul went on Fox with local voters in mind.

Talking about the Obama jobs bill, she said: "There's money in there that I desperately need in my district to build bridges."

And that's exactly what she has already built in Washington, Democratic leaders said.

"To know Kathy Hochul is to like Kathy Hochul," Hoyer said.

Rep. Steve Israel, the Long Island Democrat who is chairman of the party's House campaign committee, agrees.

"We don't need to showcase Kathy; she's showcased herself," he said. "She's got all the tools. She proved it winning that district, and she proved it by the way she's served."

email: jzremski@buffnews.com