Hochul on Wednesday named Adrienne Adams, the former New York City Council speaker, as her replacement lieutenant governor running mate for the upcoming election, formalizing the move to drop Antonio Delgado from the ticket. The announcement came as Delgado’s campaign has pressed an increasingly harsh challenge to Hochul in the Democratic primary, setting up a race in which Hochul’s current No. 2 has been traveling the state while, at the same time, she continues to hold the lieutenant governor title holder role “at least on paper,” the Associated Press reported.
In a statement, Hochul said, “Adrienne and I are no strangers to rolling up our sleeves and getting results for working New Yorkers. Together, we’re going to continue investing in public safety, bringing costs down, and making this state a place where all families can thrive.” The AP said the selection could strengthen Hochul’s downstate standing and help her seek support among working-class Black voters in New York City as Delgado looks to win over progressives.
Adams is from southeast Queens and previously represented parts of the borough before her rise to become the Council’s first Black speaker, according to the AP. The article said Adams ran an unsuccessful mayoral campaign last year, failing to gain momentum in a crowded field that included Zohran Mamdani, the city’s eventual mayor.
The AP also described the decision to replace Delgado as a long time coming, rooted in months of reported friction between the two leaders. It said Hochul and Delgado feuded before Delgado said he would not run alongside Hochul last year, a move that the AP said came with teasing of his own campaign for higher office.
Delgado’s breakup was made official in June when he launched his own candidacy for governor, calling for more progressive, transformational leadership in the state, the AP reported. Since then, the lieutenant governor position has created what the AP described as a “somewhat curious political position,” with Delgado remaining on paper as Hochul’s running mate while campaigning against her.
The AP recounted that during Hochul’s annual State of the State speech last month in Albany, Delgado was out on campaign stops on what he called the “State of the People Tour.” The report said Delgado named a running mate, India Walton, and used a video titled “A Mom from Buffalo,” as a dig at Hochul, who often refers to herself as the state’s first “mom governor,” according to the Associated Press.
Over the past few months, the AP said Hochul had sidestepped questions about Delgado’s situation. It said that this week, a reporter asked Hochul whether Delgado should resign, adding that Delgado was essentially campaigning on “the government’s dime.” In response, the AP reported Hochul said, “I will leave that to the Times Union to observe and to state. That’s an interesting observation. Correct.”
The AP said Delgado, a former member of Congress, has framed his governor bid in the mold of Mamdani, aiming to capture progressive momentum while presenting himself as part of a new generation to guide New York through President Donald Trump’s second term. It also said Hochul endorsed Mamdani and is an ally of the democratic socialist movement, but has ideological breaks with the mayor, including when she opposed his proposal to raise taxes on wealthy residents.
Hochul previously handpicked Delgado as her second-in-command after her first lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, resigned in 2022 following federal prosecutors charging him with bribery and fraud. The AP said prosecutors alleged Benjamin helped a real estate developer get state grants in exchange for campaign contributions, and noted that the case did not go to trial: federal prosecutors dropped the charges last year after one of the key witnesses died, saying they could no longer prove Benjamin committed a crime.