In the two months leading up to Election Day, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s schedule was booked solid, but not with the typical ribbon cuttings associated with the somewhat anonymous job of being New York’s No. 2.
Instead, Mr. Delgado, a former congressman, attended almost 50 campaign events, including in battleground districts that Democrats were relying on to regain control of the House. He campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in the key swing state of Pennsylvania. He formed a super PAC that donated almost $300,000 to Democratic efforts.
Since the election, he has written opinion pieces in two newspapers, one citing the need for new leadership in the Democratic Party, and appeared on the MSNBC show “Morning Joe.” Democrats, he wrote in a guest essay in The New York Times, need a “new path” that “politicians telling the same old stories” could not chart.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, the person who chose him to be her running mate, did not make any of those appearances with him; nor was she mentioned.
Many lieutenant governors toil in the deep shadows to serve their state governors. But Mr. Delgado has apparently gone rogue, fueling speculation that he may seek to challenge Ms. Hochul’s re-election bid in 2026.
He has done little to tamp down the rumors, telling donors that he plans on running for a statewide office. In an interview, he said that he had no “intention” of challenging Ms. Hochul in 2026, but also allowed that he planned to “stay ready” and that he wanted to be an “independent actor.”
“I definitely plan to be a part of the future of New York,” Mr. Delgado said. “I’m ready to serve in whatever capacity New Yorkers think is best.”
Peter Kauffmann, Mr. Delgado’s political adviser, said that the lieutenant governor was “preparing to advance in state government should an opportunity present itself.”
Political observers believe that Mr. Delgado’s ultimate goal is without a doubt the governor’s mansion.
Through his actions, Mr. Delgado has effectively “given his resignation two years in advance” and signaled that he’s “gunning for the governor’s job,” said Charlie King, a Democratic consultant and former chairman of the state party.
“It’s a risky move,” Mr. King said. “For his sake, he should think this through. It is unclear that he has.”
Ms. Hochul is already bracing for a fight. Two New York congressmen, Michael Lawler and Ritchie Torres, are also considering challenging the governor, whose popularity has dipped in recent months.
Aides to Ms. Hochul declined to address questions about Mr. Delgado’s future or his relationship with the governor. They instead chose to accentuate her attributes: Her efforts to help elect congressional Democrats were successful; her poll numbers have appeared to bottom out and are now increasing slightly. She recently announced a plan to return $3 billion to taxpayers as part of an effort to focus on affordability. She has said she will run again and is raising money, hosting a fund-raiser on Dec. 19 where it will cost $18,000 to serve as a host.
Mr. Delgado is not the first lieutenant governor in New York whose ambitions have run up against the governor they serve under. Ms. Hochul had a difficult relationship with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo when she served as his lieutenant governor, and there were reports that he wanted to replace her on the ticket.
Decades earlier, Mary Anne Krupsak unsuccessfully challenged Gov. Hugh L. Carey in a primary after she was left out of his inner circle. Alfred B. DelBello quit as Gov. Mario M. Cuomo’s lieutenant governor.
Betsy McCaughey Ross, now known as Betsy McCaughey, clashed with Gov. George E. Pataki over health care and education policy and gave speeches and conducted studies on her own. When she stood during the entirety of Mr. Pataki’s 1996 State of the State address, Ms. McCaughey was accused of seeking to bring attention to herself.
Mr. Pataki dropped her as his running mate, and she entered the Democratic primary but lost.
“I’m glad that I made certain contributions as lieutenant governor that were unique to me and I’ll encourage Lieutenant Governor Delgado to do the same,” Ms. McCaughey said in an interview, where she expressed admiration for the former governor. Mr. Delgado, who resigned from the House in 2022 to become lieutenant governor, said he had an obligation to the voters who elected him to do what he believed was right, which might require him to disagree with Ms. Hochul. It’s part of his prescription for what ails Democrats.
“Being willing to speak your mind, being willing to say what you believe, even if it’s not always in lock step with whatever your party might say, makes it clear that you are only beholden to the people,” Mr. Delgado said.
Facilitating that level of freedom has meant creating his own political apparatus, hiring his own political staff, launching his own super PAC. In his efforts to help elect members of Congress, Mr. Delgado sometimes acted independently of the campaign spearheaded by Ms. Hochul, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the Democratic leader of the House, Hakeem Jeffries.
In July, Mr. Delgado similarly gave Ms. Hochul little notice before calling for President Biden to drop out of the race after a poor debate performance. At the time, Ms. Hochul was one of the president’s biggest boosters.
Mr. Delgado and Ms. Hochul have tried publicly to play down conflict. Mr. Delgado said “we talk” and added that there were “open lines of communication” when asked about his relationship with Ms. Hochul.
Aides to Ms. Hochul say that Mr. Delgado is trying to establish his own brand and that the governor is not threatened by that.
“In the past, you’ve had governors who may have lacked the self-confidence to allow it,” said Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the state Democratic Party.
An aide to Ms. Hochul who asked for anonymity to speak freely hinted at friction between the governor and Mr. Delgado, citing his refusal to attend some public events and suggesting that the governor might be open to a different running mate in 2026.
In Ms. Hochul’s inner circle, there is more worry about the threat posed by Mr. Lawler, a Republican, and Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, than Mr. Delgado, a Rhodes Scholar, a former college basketball player and a graduate of Harvard Law School.
Mr. Lawler sees opportunity in Mr. Trump’s improved performance in New York. After Ms. Hochul’s decision to reinstate congestion pricing, which she halted before the presidential election, Mr. Lawler released an ad critical of the move.
Mr. Torres has repeatedly attacked Ms. Hochul, calling her the “new Joe Biden” who is “in denial about the depth of her vulnerabilities as a Democratic nominee.” Mr. Delgado’s recent maneuvers, Mr. Torres said, were “the ultimate vote of no confidence.”
Mr. Jacobs, however, said that Democrats should put aside “opportunism and personal ambitions” because a contested primary might leave the party weakened against a Republican backed by Mr. Trump.
Not everyone agrees.
“Just stepping out and saying what needed to be said about Biden before others were willing to was really important,” said Jumaane Williams, the public advocate of New York City who ran for lieutenant governor against Ms. Hochul in 2018.
Ana María Archila, the co-director of the Working Families Party, who ran and lost against Mr. Delgado for lieutenant governor in 2022, said she agreed with his contention “that the old guard of the Democratic Party needs to step back and create the space for people who are winning votes in the political realities of today.”
Mr. Delgado won two congressional elections in a Hudson Valley district that Mr. Trump won.
In his first successful campaign, he withstood racialized attacks against his background as a hip-hop artist by going to those parts of the district that he knew did not support him. Democrats, he said, are not “connecting to the pain” that voters are feeling around affordability, housing and education, and need to create an agenda that people can support.
That principle helped guide him as he campaigned for Democratic House candidates like John Avlon, a former CNN anchor who lost a race in an eastern Long Island swing district.
“The thing that’s more important than just the issues is a sense of what our values are,” Mr. Delgado told one couple at the Dix Hills Diner who didn’t recognize him but liked his “youthful positivity.”
Mr. Delgado also campaigned with Josh Riley and Pat Ryan, who each won their congressional races in upstate swing districts. Mr. Ryan said his voter outreach efforts were modeled on how Mr. Delgado “worked every corner of the district.”
Mr. Riley, who flipped a Republican seat in a district that was considered a tossup, said he was advised not to waste time in rural communities where voters were “unlikely to vote for a Democrat,” but he didn’t listen because “that was how Antonio was successful across upstate New York.”
Now it appears Mr. Delgado is stepping out on his own. The day before Thanksgiving, he was in Harlem with the Rev. Al Sharpton to help distribute free turkeys.
Mr. Delgado tried to make a connection with every person, placing his hand on a forearm or shoulder. He headed to the back for a private conversation with Mr. Sharpton only after the last fowl had been given away.
“Is he a bright star? Yes,” Mr. Sharpton said. “The question is what galaxy is he going to shine in?”
The post Hochul May Face a Challenger She Knows Well: Her Lieutenant Governor appeared first on New York Times.
