Antonio Delgado makes his opening case
The lieutenant governor has formally declared a run against Kathy Hochul
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado has staked out Gov. Kathy Hochul’s left flank, declaring at his first campaign rallies that she is beholden to powerful interests and the status quo. I covered his first rally in Brooklyn last week – read my writeup in Gothamist here.
Delgado, a former congressman from the Hudson Valley elevated to the lieutenant governorship by Hochul in 2022, told several dozen people in Brooklyn that he would push for greater support for child care, statewide rental subsidies and a state office to help New Yorkers dispute health insurance companies when they deny claims.
He said New York state’s large economy and $254 billion budget provide ample resources that aren’t being properly distributed.
“Entrenched systems of power, both politically and economically, now dictate how public goods, public dollars fund our public goods,” he said. “I call that trickle-down-economics, lite.”
“To paper over this broken system with half measures driven by the politics of the moment is not leadership,” Delgado continued.
Hochul’s campaign hasn’t responded directly, but other allies have. The Democratic Governors Association called her an effective leader. Some state legislators said Delgado, who is running as an insurgent, should step down.
“Kathy Hochul’s vision for our state, commitment to the values and principles of our Party, and her proven record of significant accomplishments and successes made this decision an easy one,”wrote 49 of the state’s 62 county party chairs in a letter reported by City & State.
Delgado on Saturday held a larger kick-off rally in Schenectady, the city of his birth. He hit head-on the notion that he’s being disloyal head on.
“Loyalty to who, loyalty to what?” He said, according to reporter Alex Gault. “Don’t talk to me about loyalty unless it’s loyalty to the people.”
Delgado hasn’t been particularly active at the State Capitol and he declined to weigh in on any specific pending legislation when I asked him at the Brooklyn rally. The New York Post reports that he hasn’t had a particularly vigorous schedule of late, but I know he’s spent time speaking to student groups and appearing at rallies in the Hudson Valley organized by activist groups. He announced in February that he wouldn’t serve as Hochul’s running mate next year.
Officials from the activist groups Citizen Action and New York Communities for Change were among the roughly 60 people who gathered at the Wednesday event that I attended, which was held in a parking lot behind a church in Flatbush. Some attendees wore orange streets bearing the latter group’s logo.
The groups have supported progressive primary challengers in the last three gubernatorial cycles, including New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ unsuccessful campaign against Hochul in 2022.
Generally, centrist incumbents have dispatched progressive challengers with ease. Hochul won a three-way Democratic primary in 2022 with 68% of the vote, and in 2018 former Gov. Andrew Cuomo defeated actor Cynthia Nixon 66% to 34%.
A Siena College Research Institute poll last month found 62% of New York Democrats surveyed said they had a favorable view of Hochul, while a majority of those surveyed had never heard of Delgado. As of January, Hochul had $15.5 million in her campaign war chest compared to less than $1 million for Delgado.
Hochul has touted several programs in the just-passed state budget, including funding to make breakfast and lunch free for all schoolchildren and extended tax credits for child care. The budget also includes $50 million for a state rental assistance program – an idea that Hochul had resisted.
So Delgado has a big hill to climb. Given his insurgent bid, I asked if he had any people who he looked up to or expected to join him in his bid. He didn’t name any particular officials in New York.
“We obviously have some right here in our own backyard, right?” He replied, gesturing to the dissipating crowd. “It's important that we find that kind of energy and we continue to push.”
THE QUESTION: Who was the last lieutenant governor of New York to challenge the person who appointed them?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: Admiral Horatio Nelson is honored in Trafalgar Square. He was killed during the battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet.