Gov. Kathy Hochul‘s (D-NY) lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, is running to unseat his boss in the 2026 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
The duo’s relationship has tanked since they ran together in 2022, with the two publicly exchanging barbs for months and Delgado undercutting her leadership. The lieutenant governor took the feud to the next step on Monday, announcing his run to unseat her in next year’s primary.
“People are hurting and New York deserves better leadership,” Delgado told the New York Times in an interview. “There’s an absence of bold, decisive, transformational leadership.”
Delgado’s launch video is a testament to the changing political landscape. Social issues such as gay or transgender issues were entirely absent, with Delgado devoting his pitch to housing policy, child care, healthcare, economic opportunity, opposition to President Donald Trump, and the rule of law.
He also implicitly bashed his boss without mentioning her by name, saying New Yorkers deserved a governor with a vision to improve their lives. The lieutenant governor was more explicit in the interview with the New York Times.
“I haven’t seen a vision,” Delgado said of Hochul. “I haven’t seen a decisive leadership that is clear-eyed.”
Though Delgado said his relationship with Hochul began to sour just months after the 2022 election, tensions came out into the open over the summer of last year, when he broke with Hochul’s support for then-President Joe Biden by asking him to drop out after a poor June debate performance. In February, he broke with Hochul again in calling on New York Mayor Eric Adams to resign, prompting his boss to release a statement saying he “does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”
After Delgado hinted at a primary challenge in late February, Hochul confiscated his state-issued electronic devices, took away much of his staff, and stripped him of his office space in New York City and the Hudson Valley.
NEW YORK LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR NOT SEEKING REELECTION AFTER PUBLIC SPATS WITH KATHY HOCHUL
“Governor Kathy 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. The Governor knows how to take on big fights and win for New York families,” Democratic Governors Association Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper said of the race, adding that the organization 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.”
Though the lieutenant governor is viewed as a rising Democratic star, his perceived disloyalty to Hochul and low profile make his primary challenge an uphill battle. A Siena College poll last month found that if the primary were held now, he would lose to Hochul 46% to 12%.
