“Where’s the syrup?” asks Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado over lunch at Amy Ruth’s in Harlem this past Friday, June 6. He kicked off his campaign to primary Gov. Kathy Hochul in next year’s gubernatorial election just four days prior, all the while retaining his responsibilities as the state’s second highest official. But chicken-and-waffles (all dark meat) makes up everything on his plate for the afternoon.
Delgado officially announced his candidacy on June 2 in a rare move for a sitting Lieutenant Governor. His frayed relationship with former running mate Gov. Hochul came under scrutiny earlier this year when he announced he would not seek re-election alongside her. They don’t interact much anymore, he says.
“I’m unsatisfied,” said Delgado. “I feel like the status quo is broken. People are really hurting and we need better leadership — I think New York deserves better leadership.”
He initially envisioned serving as a “partner in the process of governance” when Hochul tapped him to replace predecessor Brian Benjamin in 2022. Delgado now believes he can only push his legislative priorities as the state’s top official, rather than standing next to her. If elected, he would become New York’s second Black governor.
Unlike Benjamin, Delgado does not hail from Harlem. In fact, uptown is downtown from his hometown of Schenectady. Yet he believes his housing, healthcare and childcare proposals will resonate most with working class Black neighborhoods in New York City.
“There’s public dollars that are meant to create economic development in our communities like Harlem,” said Delgado. “And it doesn’t seem like it’s truly reaching the community. It feels like the money gets put out there, but we never see the impact in a way that actually meaningfully affects the people in the community.”
His economic agenda includes raising the minimum wage, fixing the opaque budget process and raising the top corporate tax rate. Some solutions overlap with Hochul’s platform. Her statewide minimum wage increase hit municipalities outside of the city this year and she raised the corporate tax rate to fund the MTA.
But his agenda also argues Hochul’s middle class tax cut in the recent budget –– which will reduce state taxes for more than 75% of New Yorkers starting next year –– does not do enough. Delgado argues median earners would “only receive about $15 in tax relief per month while most of the benefits go to wealthiest New Yorkers.”
Though establishing a statewide rental assistance program and cracking down on corporate landlords, Delgado’s housing plan aims to ensure housing costs do not surpass 30% or more of any New Yorker’s income. He argues the governor is doubling down on a “a failed strategy of tax credits and subsidies for developers.” Hochul extended the 421-a tax incentive last year, giving developers a property tax exemption for building multiple dwellings.
Delgado’s “vision for New York” also includes universal healthcare and universal child care proposals. His plan promises shifting reliance away from insurance companies and an Office of Healthcare Accountability to take on corporate greed among private healthcare providers. He also proposes to “finish the job” on universal pre-K given “the reality in many parts of the state is too few seats, too little funding, and no guarantee of full-day programs.”
An official public safety plan remains a work in progress for Delgado. But he believes the current approach emphasizes punishment and strips away human dignity. Delgado extolled the alternative to incarceration approach and questioned why so many people, particularly seniors, remain incarcerated in New York City prisons for decades. “All we’re talking about is the nature of the crime when the nature of the crime never changes,” he said. “But maybe the person has.”
He would not confirm support for existing bills like elderly parole but said such bills are the type of thinking he likes to see. With the recent killings of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in New York State prisons, Delgado believes there is more room for accountability.
The next governor will likely contend with the Trump administration’s continued shrinking of the federal government and attempts to cut back on federal resources, including SNAP and health benefits. When asked about his plan to look out for New Yorkers who rely on federal assistance programs, Delgado said the state must step in.
“You can’t just simply say call your congressperson…That’s not gonna stop or mitigate the harm,” Delgado said. “There needs to be a conversation on how we leverage our resources, whether it’s reserves or revenue-generating approaches. But we need to do everything we can to try to inject state resources in those areas with the most vulnerability.”
On the need to support Minority-Women Business Enterprises (MWBEs), Delgado says there are still too many hurdles for Black and Latino-owned businesses, in particular, to access capital, and that there must be more intentionality behind efforts to grow these businesses.
“I think we should probably be thinking about how to reimagine what it means to be labeled, and what type of advantages does it give you in a meaningful way other than being able to track these numbers,” Delgado said. “I’m all for making sure that we grow those businesses, but let’s make sure that when we grow them, they can actually thrive and provide for their families.”
Beyond MWBEs, Delgado says capital must be brought directly to low-income communities through the Community Development Financial Institutions’ (CDFI) Fund.
Beyond politics, he wants everyone to know about his hardwood days — Delgado was inducted in the Upstate New York Basketball Hall of Fame and played Division I for Colgate University. He also rapped under the name “AD the Voice” and mentions his album can be found on Spotify.
Delgado previously served on Capitol Hill as upstate New York’s first ever Black and Brown congressman. He represented New York’s 19th congressional district which includes the Catskills and the Hudson Valley.
“What I’ve learned in government, especially having served in upstate New York where a lot of people that I worked with were Republicans, you have to be in a position where, no matter what, you’re willing to figure out how to find common ground and work through whatever differences there might be,” said Delgado, before passing around a basket of cornbread.
He believes his experience will come in handy for whoever becomes New York City mayor. Delgado shrugged his shoulders when asked whether he preferred to work with a specific candidate. “I’m excited for the process to work itself out,” he concluded.
An uphill climb awaits him in 2026. Hochul enjoys the incumbent’s advantage and continues collecting endorsements, most recently with Rep. Pat Ryan who now holds Delgado’s former House seat. And New York State is no longer an unassailable democratic stronghold if the last election provides any indication. Hochul and Delgado narrowly defeated Republican candidate Lee Zeldin two years ago in the closest race in decades.
But first things first. Delgado needs his packet of syrup.
Hochul’s campaign and the Governor’s Office both declined to comment.