Split over Adams highlights rift between Hochul and Delgado

The ongoing legal and leadership crisis in New York City is exposing the rift between Gov. Kathy Hochul and her deputy, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado. 

On Thursday, Delgado publicly called for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign, writing in a post on X that “New York City deserves a Mayor accountable to the people, not beholden to the President. Mayor Adams should step down.” That prompted a sharp rebuke from the executive chamber. “Governor Hochul is carefully reviewing these new allegations. Lieutenant Governor Delgado does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration,” Hochul spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe said in a statement. 

This is not the first time that the governor and Delgado have disagreed since Hochul picked Delgado, a former member of Congress, to be her lieutenant governor in 2022. Last summer, Delgado was one of the first elected officials to call for former President Joe Biden to leave the Democratic ticket, while Hochul continued to lend her support to the beleaguered president. 

But this is the first time that they’ve publicly butted heads to this extent. Speaking to reporters in Albany on Friday, Delgado emphasized his independence from the governor. He said that while he and Hochul share a workplace, he doesn’t simply work for her but for New Yorkers.

“I serve with the governor, but I don't serve at the pleasure of the governor. I am my own person. I have my own voice. I did have to be independently elected, and so I think part of the job that we may not have always manifested in this way in years past doesn't change the fact that the role doesn't make the person,” Delgado said. “The person makes the role, and in this situation, I think it's very important to respectfully but nonetheless be an independent voice and to do my best to reflect what I hear from the people as I'm out there engaging as the lieutenant governor.”

Hochul did not respond to requests for comment about her relationship with Delgado.

Lieutenant governors butting heads with governors or even vice presidents disagreeing with presidents is not new, but the clarity of their different approaches is notable, even to those who have been in Delgado's position before. Former Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy, who served under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. said he couldn’t work out Delgado’s actions or motivations.

“I don't get the public issues, and I honestly don't think the number two in any organization should get out publicly in front of the number one in this manner, because it really is not a good look, and it really creates a sense of maybe fractured relationships,” Duffy told City & State.  

He said Delgado should have aired his thoughts on the situation in private rather than in public, particularly given the relatively insignificant position he is in, and he encouraged Delgado and the governor to work together to get their relationship back on track.

“Most people really do not care what the lieutenant governor, any lieutenant governor, thinks,” Duffy said. “They don't care. They only care when it is maybe different or controversial of the governor or somebody else, where it's a news story. But the governor is the leader of the executive branch, what she says matters.”

Delgado’s apparent disconnect with Hochul comes as the governor is expected to face tough primary and general election challenges when she runs for reelection for next year and as she deals with both a hostile federal government and a New York City mayor who appears to be under the thumb of President Donald Trump. To some observers, the quibbling between Delgado and Hochul ultimately serves no one. 

“I don't know that it helps either of them for any of this to be playing out publicly,” political consultant Jack O’Donnell told City & State. “Separately, I would say, when you get to the specific issues where the lieutenant governor seems to be staking out his space, I think it can be very hard to go from being a member of Congress, especially in a swing seat, and have that kind of political profile, to being lieutenant governor.”

Delgado, who ran on a ticket with Hochul but was independently elected lieutenant governor in 2022, said that he does not miss being in Congress, even given the frenzy his comments created and the political uncertainty faced by Hochul’s administration.

“I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be right now,” he said.