Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado staked out Gov. Kathy Hochul’s left flank Wednesday, declaring at his first campaign rally that she is beholden to powerful interests and the status quo.
Delgado, a former U.S. representative 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.
He pointed to $2 billion in rebate checks for most taxpayers that Hochul secured in the budget agreement, saying the money should have been invested in child care or to replace potential federal cuts to Medicaid.
Hochul campaign officials declined to comment but pointed to a statement from the Democratic Governors Association, which said Hochul “is a proven leader with a strong record of delivering for New Yorkers: putting money back in their pockets, protecting reproductive rights and keeping communities safe.”
In recent months, Delgado has 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.
Delgado broke from Hochul twice in recent months when he called for Joe Biden to step aside as the Democratic presidential nominee and said New York City Mayor Eric Adams should resign after Trump administration officials directed federal prosecutors to drop their corruption case against the mayor. Adams maintains he did nothing wrong.
Officials from the activist groups Citizen Action and New York Communities for Change were among the roughly 60 people who gathered behind a church in Flatbush for Delgado’s event, and 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.
Debbie Pruitt, a retired postal worker from Flatbush wearing an NYCC shirt, said she hoped that Delgado’s candidacy would help bolster support for a rent freeze in New York City. She called Hochul “pretty fair” but said she wanted a governor who was “for the people and not for the rich.”
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.
No elected officials appeared with Delgado, and several people issued statements indicating their support for Hochul after the lieutenant governor officially declared his challenge.
“Antonio Delgado’s decision to run for governor is misguided and out of touch with the needs of New Yorkers,” said Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia, a Bronx Democrat. She called on Delgado to resign his current position.
Delgado said Wednesday that he hasn’t spoken with Hochul in months. He paused when asked if there were leaders around the state who he believed would rally to his cause, but couldn’t name any.
“We obviously have some right here in our own backyard, right?” he said, gesturing to the dissipating crowd. “It's important that we find that kind of energy and we continue to push.”
