Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, on Tuesday announced he was dropping his challenge to his boss.
After launching his campaign for Hochul’s spot last June, Delgado failed to make much of a dent in Hochul’s commanding lead. Facing dismal polling numbers, the lieutenant governor ended his bid on Tuesday.
“After much consideration, I’ve concluded that there simply is no viable path forward. And though my campaign has come to an end, I fully intend to do all I can in our effort to build a more humane, affordable, and equitable state that serves all New Yorkers. I will also support Democrats in our effort to hold the line against Trump and take back our democracy,” Delgado said.
“I do not make this decision lightly, particularly given that so many have poured their belief into our campaign and are desperate to be given a voice,” he added, thanking those who supported his campaign.
Hochul was dismissive of the news, casting her sights on the general election in November and saying the Democratic Party “is focused, united, and ready to take back the House and beat President Donald Trump’s enablers this November,” all without mentioning Delgado.
Hochul campaign communications director Sarafina Chitika was similarly dismissive, telling Fox News the incumbent governor “spent all year uniting her big-tent party around a vision for affordability and safety for every New York family.”
“Thanks to her leadership, our campaign and our party are strong and ready to defeat Donald Trump and his enablers up and down the ballot, take back the House, and hand [Republican candidate for governor] Bruce Blakeman yet another loss this November,” Chitika said. “Donald Trump and Bruce Blakeman are united in their efforts to raise costs on working families, send masked [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents into our streets to terrorize innocent communities, and wage war on New York kids. Our party is now just as united to stop them.”
Delgado’s drop-out is the latest strike of good fortune for Hochul, who has seen repeated victories fall into her lap over the past few months. Her two most viable Republican rivals, Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) opted not to run and to drop out, respectively.
Delgado and Hochul enjoy a contentious relationship, falling from great heights since they were elected in 2022. In a June 2025 New York Times interview, he said his relationship with the governor began to sour just months after the election, though tensions came out into the open over the summer of last year, when he broke with Hochul’s support for then-President Joe Biden by asking him to drop out after a poor June 2024 debate performance. In February 2025, he broke with Hochul again in calling on New York Mayor Eric Adams to resign, prompting his boss to release a statement saying he “does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”
After Delgado hinted at a primary challenge late last February, Hochul confiscated his state-issued electronic devices, took away much of his staff, and stripped him of his office space in New York City and the Hudson Valley. The two continued to be passive-aggressive toward each other in public statements, saying New Yorkers deserved a governor with a clear vision to improve their lives.
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“I haven’t seen a vision,” Delgado said of Hochul in the New York Times interview. “I haven’t seen a decisive leadership that is clear-eyed.”
Delgado’s perceived disloyalty to Hochul proved too big a barrier to overcome, with his chances barely improving since a June 2025 Siena College poll found that he would lose to Hochul 46% to 12% in a primary.
