Zohran Mamdani's win offers populist model for Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado in bid to unseat his boss

Christina Josling sees a throughline between Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and Assemb. Zohran Mamdani.

"They make it sound like we can have better lives in New York, whereas the others are just like, ‘This is it — take it or leave it,’" Josling said.

The Garden City woman is a disaffected Democrat who went from rallying against President Donald Trump with a local "indivisible" chapter in 2017 to seeking anyone who wants to reckon with a "broken system."

In June, she made her third-ever state-level campaign contribution: $25 to Delgado’s insurgent, long shot campaign to unseat his boss for governor in next summer’s primary.

The Delgado run against Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to test several political ideas, but none necessarily bigger than whether the primary victory of Mamdani in New York City — or other populist-styled mayoral winners this summer in Albany and Syracuse, and, to an extent, in Buffalo and Binghamton — is replicable at a statewide level, where it is not only progressives in cities who can tip the scales, but also suburban and rural swing voters.

"I felt as though the outcome of the mayor’s race affirmed my sensibilities," Delgado said in an interview with Newsday on Thursday about Mamdani’s success.

He said the decisive, underdog win served as a "proof of concept" for his own candidacy, which he kicked off prior to the Astoria lawmaker’s victory.

Progressive stances

Delgado is looking to tax the state’s wealthiest, pursue a universal health care option, build housing through the public sector and seek universal child care. But he also has defined himself as a capitalist, albeit one who believes in guardrails placed by the government.

At a meet and greet in the Bronx this week, Delgado offered his sensibilities on the political scene and his career arc over a 10-minute stump speech before a crowd of a couple dozen.

"We have folks who want to maintain a broken status quo, who want to manage it and be transactional in the world we work in," Delgado said.

Delgado’s pitch to the politically involved at the Bronx restaurant reduced to: Why in one of the wealthiest states in the country, which is controlled by Democrats, is there so much persistent poverty, income inequality and disaffected voters?

"When are we going to stand on our own principles, on our own values in the way that reflects our moral compass and inspires people of all backgrounds to get out there and engage in a meaningful way?" Delgado said.

Julien Segura, a former Manhattan Assembly candidate who was sporting pins in support of Mamdani, told a Newsday reporter outside of the Bronx event that the "real test" for Delgado will be with whom he decides to align himself.

"Will he try to play neutral?" Segura said. "I don’t think that’s a path for him."

'People-centered'

Delgado grew up in Schenectady to parents who worked at General Electric. He went to Colgate University, where he played basketball and studied philosophy and political science. He earned a Rhodes scholarship and also attended Harvard Law School.

He was a hip-hop artist for five years. Then, he worked in corporate law for seven years in New York City, before deciding to run for Congress upstate in a rural district that was split, one-third Democrats, one-third Republicans, one-third without a party affiliation.

Delgado's early political career was marked by bipartisanship and getting bills passed in both the Biden and Trump administrations, which progressives are assessing relative to his gubernatorial campaign.

"I would say more than anything though the thread line that ultimately produced all of those bills ... was being people-powered, people-centered in everything," Delgado told Newsday, when asked about any viewed shifts in his politics.

By 2022, he was tapped to be lieutenant governor after Hochul’s first pick, Brian Benjamin, resigned after a federal indictment accused him of bribery.

Delgado's and Hochul’s teams have different accounts of his time in Albany.

A public schedule of Delgado, obtained by a Freedom of Informational Law request, shows limited activity, which tapered off as the relationship frayed. Hochul previously served in the same role and was known for a packed schedule but limited access to then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Rift with Hochul

Delgado’s potential faceoff with his current boss also comes after they publicly split when he unilaterally called for President Joe Biden to withdraw his nomination for reelection.

In February, he said he would not run for reelection for lieutenant governor. Then, Hochul slashed Delgado's staff — once six people — to one, had him return his work phone and computer and give up his office. A spokesperson for the governor said it had become clear he was no longer interested in performing his duties.

By early June, Delgado announced his plan to run against Hochul.

The former two-term congressman will seek to overcome Hochul's prolific campaign war chest as well as her own record with four years in office.

 "While some politicians talk, Gov. Hochul has delivered," Hochul campaign spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.

Chitika pointed to Hochul’s work on middle-class tax cuts, inflation refund checks and free school meals for children, which she described as "wins that help hardworking families, not the wealthy few."

"The governor works every single day to fight back against Donald Trump, D.C. Republicans and their billionaire donors, and to ensure every New Yorker can afford to live and thrive in the Empire State," Chitika said.

Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s team has also been exploring a run for governor.

In 2022, Hochul defeated then-U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Suffolk County Republican who was once viewed as a long shot, by 6 percentage points — the closest gubernatorial race here in three decades.

Hochul won the three-way Democratic statewide primary in 2022 with ease, but it was a low-turnout election. Put into some context: about 914,000 people voted in the 2022 state Democratic primary for governor, which is fewer people than voted in just the New York City mayoral primary this summer, over 1 million people.

Put another way: Mamdani secured 573,000 votes in the rank-choice system in the city this year, while Hochul in the 2022 Democratic primary earned 286,000 in New York City and 608,000 votes statewide.

'There's a moment'

Cea Weaver, New York State Tenant Bloc executive director, celebrated Delgado’s positions and how he’s moved toward the energy in the movement.

"He’s doing his homework," Weaver said.

The Working Families Party has been seeking to carry the banner of upending the status quo.

"We think there’s a moment," said Working Families Party co-chair Ana María Archila, who ran against Delgado for lieutenant governor in 2022. "We think Delgado is appropriately reading that moment well."

The state’s nascent matching funds system could also bolster Delgado’s candidacy. A statewide candidate is eligible for up to $3.5 million in public dollars in the primary, if they raise a certain number of small-dollar, instate donations. Mamdani and state legislative candidates have found success against the establishment with use of the system.

Delgado raised $1 million in his first 40 days from announcing his campaign for governor in June, but Hochul, a prolific fundraiser, brought in twice as much money over that same period. While Delgado’s fundraising base came from New York City, it did not come from the same parts of the city that Mamdani dominated in the primary.

Some of that money though, like Josling’s $25 donation out of Garden City, will likely be eligible for a 6-to-1 match from the state.

Josling is looking at Delgado and Mamdani as candidates who are listening to voters’ demands for the government to make substantial, bold changes that benefit the people.

"I’m so tired of hearing that ‘no, that can’t be done,’" Josling said. "People just don’t want to change anything in the status quo. If that isn’t staring you right in the face right now in terms of what’s going on, I don’t know what’s going to."