New Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado has one of the most moderate voting records in Congress
NEW YORK -- Sometime this month an upstate congressman with a lengthy resume will become New York's next lieutenant governor.
Antonio Delgado is also hoping to become Kathy Hochul's running mate as she seeks election to her own four-year term as governor, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported Wednesday.
There was an obvious height difference when the Hochul introduced Delgado, who played semi-pro basketball in Puerto Rico.
"I look forward to getting a few pointers and play some hoops together," Hochul said.
It was a light-hearted moment. Hochul hopes that selecting Delgado will finally allow her right her campaign and get out from under the crushing blow to her young administration that came with the indictment of her first lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin.
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Delgado, who was born in Schenectady and represents the Hudson Valley and the Catskills in Congress, was quick to point out that being an upstater won't affect his voter appeal.
"Upstate, downstate, it does not matter. We all want the same things: security, family, opportunity," Delgado said.
A former Rhodes Scholar, Colgate and Harvard law graduate, Delgado has an ethnically mixed family. He brings diversity to the ticket and can appeal to voters in many communities.
"I am African American and Cape Verdean, Afro-Latino, and my wife is Black and Jewish. My children we're raising Jewish, and so all these different entry points connect to me and just really help me to figure how to go in and out of communities," Delgado said.
He also had a short-lived career as a rapper, known as A.D. The Voice.
When Delgado ran for Congress in 2018, Republicans tried to brand him as a big city rapper, but he still managed to defeat Republican incumbent John Faso. Delgado has one of the most moderate voting records in Congress, which may or may not help him in the Democratic primary against moderate Diana Reyna and progressive activist Ana Maria Archila.
He has strong views about the possibility of the Supreme Court will overturning Roe v. Wade.
"Make no mistake, in seeking to overturn nearly 50 years of precedent, the Supreme Court is at once reasserting a social order grounded in patriarchy and male dominance over a women's body," Delgado said.
Delgado is only 45, with a big political future ahead of him. If the Hochul-Delgado team prevails in November, he could be in line, at some point, to steer the ship upstate, himself.