Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado Tuesday pulled the plug on his sputtering primary challenge to Gov. Hochul, clearing her path to the Democratic nomination as she battles for reelection to a second full term in the fall.
“I’ve concluded that there simply is no viable path forward,” Delgado tweeted. “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.”
The former Catskills congressman once looked to be mounting a promising challenge from the left to Hochul, with whom he had a bitter falling out.
But the governor has engineered a remarkable political rebound, even scoring the backing of progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mayor Mamdani, which had left Delgado with no realistic shot at unseating her.
Hochul has already replaced Delgado on her ticket with former City Council President Adrienne Adams, leaving the onetime rising Democratic star with no obvious political options in the immediate future.
Hochul, who underperformed badly in her 2022 reelection bid and beat ex-Rep. Lee Zeldin by a paltry 6% margin, holds a commanding lead in polls over her expected Republican challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Delgado becomes just the latest candidate to pull out of a potential challenge to the resurgent Hochul.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler decided to skip the race to run for reelection in his Westchester County swing district. And Rep. Elise Stefanik shocked insiders by ending her GOP run and announcing she won’t run for reelection to her far upstate seat.
