New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Is Getting Primaried By Her Deputy

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing a primary challenge from a somewhat unexpected source: one-time ally and current deputy Antonio Delgado.

Delgado, New York’s lieutenant governor, announced on Monday that he intends to challenge Hochul in the upcoming 2026 Democratic primary and stressed the need for “bold, decisive, transformational leadership” in a campaign video.

Delgado’s move underscores a sharp break with Hochul, who appointed him to his current role in May 2022. The two moderates ran on the same ticket in the 2022 election, but they have had a series of public rifts in the years since. In February, Delgado announced that he wouldn’t be running alongside Hochul in 2026, fueling speculation about a potential primary challenge.

Hochul and Delgado’s relationship has publicly fractured in the last year. After former President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance in June 2024, Delgado urged him to drop out of the race, while Hochul, a surrogate for the Biden campaign, declined to do the same. “While Lieutenant Governor Delgado has the right to voice his opinion, Governor Hochul believes Democrats must come together, move forward as a united party, and focus on defeating Donald Trump in November,” Jen Goodman, a spokesperson for Hochul’s campaign, said at the time.

Such divides were even more apparent when Delgado urged New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign after he was indicted on federal charges of bribery. “I speak for New Yorkers. That’s how I orient myself: as an independently elected individual,” Delgado said during a state capitol speech, the Gothamist reported. ” I serve with the governor. But I don’t serve at the pleasure of the governor, right? I am my own person. I have my own voice.”

Hochul had not asked Adams to resign at the time of Delgado’s remarks and eventually decided not to remove him, proposing increased oversight of his leadership instead. “Lt. Gov. Delgado does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration,” Hochul spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe said in February.

When Delgado announced that he wouldn’t be running with Hochul in February, her office was similarly blunt. “Today, Antonio Delgado finally said out loud what has been obvious for quite some time: he is simply not interested in doing the job of the Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York,” Hogrebe said.

On Monday, Delgado said in his campaign video that he’d aim to focus on policies including affordable housing, universal health care and universal pre-K.

In addition to Delgado, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) as well as Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) have also hinted at their interest in the race, too.

“The powerful and well-connected have their champions,” Delgado said in his campaign announcement. “I’m running for governor to be yours.”