Interviews & Profiles

Antonio Delgado has a new constituency

A Q&A with the new lieutenant governor, campaigning in Harlem.

Delgado’s campaign brought him to one of the main arteries of Black New York, 125th Street in Harlem, for about 45 minutes of handshakes and conversations.

Delgado’s campaign brought him to one of the main arteries of Black New York, 125th Street in Harlem, for about 45 minutes of handshakes and conversations. Jeff Coltin

When Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado was sworn in on May 25, he gained about 20 million new constituents, covering the entire state, after representing just one Hudson Valley Congressional district for the past three and a half years. That’s a district where the population was nearly 90% white, and Delgado, who identifies as Afro-Latino, was proud to be the first person of color to represent an upstate Congressional district. 

But Delgado is running in the June 28 Democratic primary now, with a more racially diverse electorate. And Buffalo-based Gov. Kathy Hochul seems to be counting on her running mate to help her in the five boroughs especially, where she lost to New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in the 2018 race for LG. 

So during the Monday evening rush hour, Delgado’s campaign brought him to one of the main arteries of Black New York, 125th Street in Harlem, for about 45 minutes of handshakes and conversations. Being a lieutenant, and new to the job at that, almost nobody he spoke with knew who he was. But the staffers, volunteers and politicians who’d gathered to hold signs and hand out flyers were working to change that. 

“What’s his name? Lieutenant Delgado!” Assembly Member Al Taylor toldurged on four Black teenage boys as Delgado shifted to get a photo with them.  “Otherwise known as AD,” the 45-year-old lieutenant governor said, taking over. “I used to rap. AD the Voice.” 

But it wasn’t just surface level appeals to hip hop. Delgado had just given them a heartfelt appeal. 

“Young brothers like yourselves?” he said to the teens, “Recognize there are people in power. That look like you. That know who you are. That can relate.”

But Delgado himself struggled to relate with a woman who, seeing his name on the sign, tried to speak to him in Spanish. Only English, he said, apologizing. You might assume the name is Hispanic, but it’s actually more complicated. “I am Latin American. I do have that. My mother’s side,” the LG explained. “But Delgado is Cape Verdean.”

This campaign stop was in the heart of former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin’s former state Senate district, though the name of the former lieutenant governor, who resigned in April vowing to fight the federal corruption charges against him, went unmentioned. One voter though, a man in a ball cap who said he’s lived in Harlem for 55 years, leaned in close to the newly appointed LG to issue a cryptic warning: “When you’re at your most high, the devil’ll come out.”

After the handshaking, City & State got a brief interview – exactly five minutes, to the second – with Delgado outside his black SUV, before he was driven off to his next event. This interview has been lightly edited.

Have you ever lived in New York City?

Yes. Chelsea, 21st and 8th. Over in DUMBO, Brooklyn. 2011 to 2014. (Delgado initially said 2016. His team followed up later to say he misspoke. He lived in Chelsea from 2011 to 2012 and DUMBO from 2012 to 2014.)

You’ve been talking to a lot of people here in Harlem. What’s the best conversation you’ve had?

There was a couple that caught my ear. A little girl that I saw that said her favorite subject was math. Actually, two little girls, that I came across. One said she loved math, the other one said she loved science. That was big. I met with a couple of veterans. Talked about supporting our veterans. A lot of good conversations. A lot of good energy.

I feel like you’ve been keeping a low profile so far as lieutenant governor, not attending debates, not attending community forums. What’s your plan for getting your name out? Is it just street corner events like this?

My focus is definitely connecting with the people right where they are. Just like today. It’s been a whirlwind, in terms of the timeline, making the transition and making sure that I orient myself. I’m excited to really get out and meet people, connect with people, just like I did when I was in Congress. Meet them where they are. Talk to them, listen to them, engage with them.

Speaking of Congress, what was the motive to leave? The Democrats needed a strong incumbent like you in the Hudson Valley, right?

When I was thinking about what really drove me in Congress, a lot of it was the time I was home. I was able to actually connect with people in a real way. And when I thought about the opportunity to bring that to the whole state, to have that ability to connect – as somebody who has spent time living and working in New York City, but also is from upstate New York – to be able to figure out how to bridge some of these divides and unify people at a time when New York needs to actually lead – lead – on the national stage? I felt like it was an opportunity that I was compelled to engage with. 

Did you have any Democrats try and convince you otherwise? Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Sean Patrick Maloney?

No.

How’d your name get in the mix? Did you approach the governor’s team and say, ‘I’d love to be LG’? Did they approach you?

I did not. I did not approach the governor’s team. I was approached.

What’s your end goal of being lieutenant governor? Do you want to be the governor one day? 

My goal right now is to focus on making sure people can believe again in the integrity of our system. Believe that politics could work for them. That people who genuinely care about people want to serve. And want to make sure that people can believe that democracy can work for them. And as lieutenant governor of this state at this time, with all of the divisiveness and all of the violence, I really want to do whatever I can to breathe more life into that, hope into that, inspiration that I think people are looking for.

Hochul was pretty much sidelined as LG under Cuomo, while Benjamin and Hochul seemed to work more closely together, with her giving him an agenda. Have you been given an agenda yet? What policy areas do you want to work on? 

Yes, as part of my swearing in, and we talked about it in our conversations privately, but also publicly, we stated that one key piece of my role is going to be a federal liaison where I’m working with federal actors, as well as state actors, to figure out how to make sure that the dollars that are coming to the state and the counties and the towns and municipalities actually reach them directly and go to the communities that need it the most. I was responsible for the funding formula in the American Rescue Plan that delivered over $10 billion to state and local governments – all local governments. So I have a track record of making sure that we’re empowering our local leaders in our communities in direct fashion. And I want to make sure we’re continuing to do that with state government. 

I heard you talking about your Latino heritage to a voter earlier. Many have been a little confused – what’s the heritage on your mother’s side?

My mother’s maiden name is Gomez. Going back to her father, that side of her family is from Latin America. That’s where the heritage comes from. Like all New Yorkers, my identity and what I bring to the table has a lot of different components to it. I’m very proud of that. I’m very, very proud of having the ability to think about the ways in which we in our individual selves, are diverse experiences. And when you think about New York being the epicenter of multiculturalism, multireligion, I’m excited to be able to bring my own personal story to the forefront in that way as well.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.