Adrienne Adams spent eight years in the New York City Council, nearly four of them as speaker, the first African American to have that role. It was a journey that could have led to the mayor’s office, but as the primary turned out to be a contest between former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and then-state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani, her tenure in the chamber ended with term limits. At the time, she said she would focus on what would come next for her, but she did not have an answer. “I have to just exhale and come back to myself without the title in front of my name. I’ve got to get back to Adrienne,” said Adams in a December interview with the AmNews. “And then, when I reemerge, what I continue to say is that I’m looking forward to the next great thing, whatever it may be.”
That reemergence has come sooner than expected. In her reelection bid, Gov. Kathy Hochul selected Adams as her running mate, and in a new interview with the AmNews, she says she feels comfortable, ready, and excited. “We have some amazing leadership out there when it comes to mayors and even governors now, when it comes to women’s leadership. So, yes, this is impactful, and I believe that Governor Hochul and I will continue that. We’ll create even more of that impact by making this history for the State of New York,” said Adams.
Currently, there are at least four states in the U.S. that have had all-woman gubernatorial tickets and were successful in getting elected: Massachusetts, Arkansas, Virginia, and Iowa. So far, Hochul and Adams have received significant support from political allies, like state Democratic Party Chair Jay S. Jacobs, NYS Attorney General Letitia James, and Mamdani himself. A Queens native and lifelong resident, Adams enjoyed a long career of firsts. She was first elected to District 28 in Queens in 2017, becoming the first woman to hold that seat, and made history in 2022 when she was elected as speaker.
“One of my good girlfriends said to me, ‘You know something, Adrienne, you only do firsts,’” she continued. “In all of my accomplishments and feeling so good about my career as a public servant, I was really happy just to say toodles. And then that call came from the Governor of the State of New York.”
Adams got to know and work with Hochul long before her career in government. They first met when Hochul was a lieutenant governor for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and she was a chairperson of Community Board 12 in Southeast Queens in 2012. “We’ve had a great rapport over the years. Needless to say, with me as speaker, we continued that relationship,” said Adams.
Contributed by Hochul’s campaign
Leading up to now
It’s no secret that there’s been some instability with the previous lieutenant governors Hochul has chosen in the past.
Harlem’s former Sen. Brian Benjamin served as Hochul’s first lieutenant governor, but was forced to resign as he battled federal fraud charges in court in 2022. Those charges were later thrown out by a federal judge later that year, but the damage had been done to his political career. To replace Benjamin, Hochul brought in former Congressmember Antonio Delgado from Schenectady. He was the state’s first Afro-Latino in the role and served with Hochul until 2024. The first rift between him and Hochul became apparent when Delgado called for former President Joe Biden to end his presidential campaign against then-candidate Donald Trump.
Delgado suspended his own campaign for Governor in February 2026.
Adams is confident that she and Hochul are on the same page because of their years of friendship in government. “The good thing about our partnership is that we’re no strangers to each other. Her priorities are my priorities,” she said. “Being a mother and a grandmother, we’re coming from the same place and wanting to protect our families and families across the state of New York, something that both of us have always done as leaders.” The two-woman ticket has hit the campaign trail, visiting the state’s 62 counties in an effort to connect with voters.
“Every county has its own characteristic, and every county is different. There is no monolith. There are certain pockets…upstate that are red, and even downstate,” said Adams. “Everywhere has its own dynamic, where everybody does not think the same, does not walk the same, does not talk the same, does not act the same, but it is all of this that makes us the unique state that we are. And I’m really looking forward to getting out there, to these county fairs, to these amazing fundraisers, to these events, to get to know the characteristics and the characters that make up upstate New York.” Earlier in March, Adams was spotted in the Long Island village of Hempstead, a primarily Black and Brown working-class area, which will be crucial to the election. Along with Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr., she spoke to small business owners about the impacts of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) in Nassau County. Restaurateurs complained that ICE’s presence diminished foot traffic and scared away customers.
Adams mentioned that her security detail has increased on the campaign trail, but she’s in no way a stranger to vitriol, especially since her run for mayor with a huge roster of candidates against former Mayor Eric Adams in March 2025. She lost the June primary to then-Assemblymember Mamdani. “With the position comes some very unsavory characters that do not like you for the color of your skin, for the things that they believe that you represent, even though they have never met you and never will in life,” said Adams.
She’s working to highlight Hochul’s achievements, like her fight to lower costs for New Yorkers, property tax reliefs, funding for childcare, investing in public safety, removing illegal guns off of streets, and standing up to Trump. In regards to the ongoing state and city budget debate over Mamdani’s proposed tax hike on the rich, Adams said that their team intends to foster a good relationship with him and the city.
“This is the first time in a long time — believe me, I’ve lived this work — that the governor and the mayor, and hopefully the city council, will be on the same page, working more collaboratively than ever before. That is what the governor’s done in the past, and this is what the governor is going to do in the future,” said Adams.
The ticket is the clear frontrunner in the June 23 Democratic primary, with no significant challenges. With a win, they would face the GOP primary winner between Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and businessman Larry Sharpe in the Nov. 3 general election.