Delgado explains break from Hochul on Adams

After Antonio Delgado was tapped to be lieutenant governor in 2022, he told The Capitol Pressroom that summer he would try to settle any differences with the governor in private.

Nearly three years later, and the Hudson Valley Democrat’s most notable moments in office have come with his public breaks from the state’s chief executive, including his call for changing the Democratic presidential ticket in 2024 and making the case this week that New York City Mayor Eric Adams should resign from office.

“At the end of the day, there are scenarios where what you have to do as a leader, particularly if you’re seeking the trust of the people when the trust has been broken, is to understand when it’s important to speak your conscience and to speak truth,” Delgado told The Capitol Pressroom on Friday.

He added that a lot of voters are very cynical about politics, including who elected officials are beholden to, and described what he sees as a “crisis of belief.”

“And so I take personal responsibility, wherever I can, particularly at the most … salient of moments, where it’s most important, to make sure that I speak directly to the people and share with them what I believe,'” Delgado said.

In 2022, he stressed that he was an an independent actor, but in a partnership with the governor.  “I think we are optimally at our best when we can have disagreements in private and talk through challenges, but then get to a point where, when it is time to communicate out and make sure that there is a collective orientation to how we can better the state, we do that,” he said at the time.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the governor stressed that Delgado did not speak for the administration.

The full interview with the lieutenant governor will air on Monday.