First he snubbed her, now he wants her job. Hochul's deputy launching bid for governor.
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's No. 2 — Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado — has long had designs on her job and plans to launch his long-shot bid to unseat her Tuesday, his spokesperson told POLITICO.
Delgado previewed the announcement in a video released Monday that includes images of him in New York City speaking with people and calling for 'universal health care' and 'universal pre-K.'
He also pledged to fight 'the Trump administration's attacks' on deep blue New York.
'The powerful and well connected have their champions,' he said in the video. 'I'm running for governor to be yours.'
A Hochul campaign spokesperson declined to comment.
The Democratic Governors Association in a statement praised Hochul's record and pledged to support her.
'The Democratic Governors Association is 100 percent behind Governor Hochul as she continues to deliver for New York, take on Donald Trump, and build the operation it will take to beat Republicans up and down the ballot in 2026,' DGA executive director Meghan Meehan-Draper said. 'For years, Governor Hochul has been underestimated — and each time proved her critics wrong.'
The Hudson Valley Democrat has been reaching out to Black elected officials to make his pitch, including leaders in Harlem and Brooklyn, four people familiar with his plans told POLITICO. One Democrat said Delgado is presenting Hochul as a weak top-of-the-ticket candidate who would hurt down-ballot contenders.
Delgado is formalizing his campaign for governor four months after declining to endorse Hochul's reelection bid. But he snubbed her well before then, breaking with her last year by calling for President Joe Biden and then New York City Mayor Eric Adams to step down.
Delgado, a moderate former House member who briefly had a rap career, holds a largely ceremonial role as Hochul's deputy. The responsibilities have conventionally included lower-stakes appearances to boost the governor while presiding over the state Senate. But Delgado has been on a de facto campaign tour of the state in recent months, hosting town halls and visiting churches to get his name out.
He didn't reference Hochul once when he spoke Sunday from the pulpit of a predominantly Black church in Brooklyn.
'If we don't have moral leadership in a democracy, what do you think is going to happen to the democracy? It will collapse on itself,' Delgado told the congregation at Mt. Ollie Baptist Church.
'If you can't tell, I'm ready to make a change,' he went on to light applause, 'and I just want to ask you to pray for me.'
Challenging a sitting governor is a difficult task.
Hochul ascended to the office in 2021 after Andrew Cuomo's resignation. She quickly inherited the trappings of power that fall to chief executives in New York, including support from politically influential labor unions and a long line of donors eager to contribute to her campaign.
Despite her middling poll numbers, Hochul is a formidable fundraiser. The governor in January reported $15.5 million in her campaign account and has raised money throughout the year. During the 2024 election cycle, Hochul built up the state Democratic Party's infrastructure, which she is expected to leverage for her re-election next year. Delgado had $968,751 in cash on hand, according to his January filing. The next report is not due until July.
Hochul handily defeated two Democratic primary challengers in 2022 when she ran for a full term. She received more than 67 percent of the vote; New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Rep. Tom Suozzi received less than 20 percent each.
Delgado remains largely unknown to most voters, a common problem for anyone who serves in the low-profile lieutenant governor's post. A Siena College poll in May found 58 percent of voters had no opinion of him or didn't know him.
A Schenectady native and resident of the exurban Hudson Valley region, he does not come from a population center like New York City or the immediate suburbs — often a prerequisite for statewide success.
Delgado is part of a long line of lieutenant governors who have chafed in the powerless office. The last sitting No. 2 to challenge a sitting governor was in 1998, when Betsy McCaughey Ross launched an unsuccessful bid to unseat then-Gov. George Pataki.
Delgado has spent much of the year in even more governmental irrelevance than is normal for the job. After announcing he would not run again with Hochul — and hinting he would challenge her — the Hochul administration stripped him of his Capitol office space, staff and email access.
The lieutenant governor will be up against Hochul's name recognition and fundraising strength in the primary one year from now. The incumbent governor isn't highly popular but she's formidable enough. A Siena College poll from May showed 46 percent of Democrats would support Hochul in a gubernatorial primary, compared to 12 percent for Delgado and 10 percent for Rep. Ritchie Torres, another potential challenger who says he'll make his decision after the New York City mayoral primary this month.
On the Republican side, potential candidates for governor next year include Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Lawler and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
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