Since launching her campaign for lieutenant governor back in February, Ana Maria Archila has picked up a steady stream of endorsements from elected leaders, including members of the City Council.
“This is not a monarchy,” said City Councilmember Chi Osse of Brooklyn. “This is a democracy. And we need to be voting for those who are not bought, who are no bosses around, but by those who will stand up and have a proven track record of standing up for our values in the past.”
Archila is running with Jumaane Williams, who is running for governor. But because the lieutenant governor runs separately in the primary, she has been holding events on her own.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s running mate, Antonio Delgado, has been far less visible. He was named to the position on May 3, under a very secretive selection process. And since then, he has only released public schedules on a handful of occasions.
“I have yet to see him in any community forum,” Archila said. “And I spent every single evening talking to communities all across the state. So the question for me is where is Delgado? And will he actually fight for people?”
According to the Delgado campaign, he didn’t have a staff until May 10. And his aides maintain he has been doing events, even if not advised publicly. In a statement, Madia Coleman, a spokesperson for Delgado said, “The lieutenant governor is doing public events and media weekly since launching his campaign, he was named lieutenant governor-designate as he was still a sitting member of Congress, and he has not missed a vote all while concurrently campaigning, addressing a mass shooting in the state, navigating his new duties, and preparing to formally become lieutenant governor.”
But critics say the manner in which Delgado was appointed is also troubling. Democrats in the legislature had to change state law to enable Delgado to get on the ballot for the June primary, after Hochul’s first pick for lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, resigned after being indicted on corruption charges.
Archila said Democrats are changing the rules in order to defeat her.
“Because what he did is allow himself to be used to interfere in a fair election that was already underway between two candidates that had already been running campaigns, active campaigns. Real campaigns,” Archila said.
Delgado has done some media interviews, including an appearance on Mornings on One on Thursday.
“Well, I hope I can convey to people between now and until I get a chance to really meet them in person, that I am a hard worker. I spend a lot of time with my head down doing the work, trying to figure out how to bring people together and be effective,” Delgado said.
The third candidate for lieutenant governor, Diana Reyna, is running with Tom Suozzi. She has done very little campaigning on her own, but has appeared on virtual press conferences with Suozzi many times.