Antonio Ramon Delgado (born January 28, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the lieutenant governor of New York since 2022. He previously served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

New York's 19th congressional district New York's 19th congressional district is located in New York's Catskills and mid-Hudson Valley regions. It lies partially in the northernmost region of the New York metropolitan area and mostly south of Albany. This district is currently re ...

. He is the first person of either African–American or

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

descent to be elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

from

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. On May 3, 2022, Governor

Kathy Hochul Kathleen Hochul ( ; née Courtney; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of New York since August 24, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she is New York's first female governor, as well as the first ...

announced that she had appointed Delgado to serve as lieutenant governor, after

Brian Benjamin Brian A. Benjamin is an American politician and businessman who was lieutenant governor of New York from September 2021 until his resignation on April 12, 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 30th district in th ...

resigned; Delgado was sworn in on May 25, 2022. He is the first Latino to hold statewide office. On November 8, 2022, Delgado won a full term as lieutenant governor, on Governor Hochul's ticket.

Early life and career

Delgado was born on January 28, 1977, in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, to Tony Delgado and Thelma P. Hill. He is of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, Cape Verdean, Mexican, Colombian, and Venezuelan ancestry. Delgado has three younger brothers: Kito, Kendall, and Julian. He grew up in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood of Schenectady. Delgado attended

Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School is a private, Roman Catholic middle and high school in Schenectady, New York. It is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. Enrollment for the 2021–2022 school year was 201 students. The 2021- ...

and played for the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team as a forward. In his senior year, ''

The Daily Gazette ''The Daily Gazette'' is an independent, family-owned daily newspaper published in Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's popu ...

'' named Delgado to its all-area second team. He then enrolled at Colgate University and played for the

Colgate Raiders men's basketball The Colgate Raiders men's basketball team represents Colgate University in Hamilton, New York in NCAA Division I competition. The school's team competes in the Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising ...

team alongside future Golden State Warriors player

Adonal Foyle Adonal David Foyle (born March 9, 1975) is a Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Vincentian-American former professional basketball Center (basketball), center. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the eighth overall selection of the 19 ...

. Delgado graduated from Colgate in 1999 and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to study at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, from which he received a Master of Arts in 2001. In 2005, Delgado graduated from Harvard Law School. After law school, Delgado moved to Los Angeles in 2005 and worked in the music industry. In 2007, Delgado released a socially conscious rap album under the stage name "AD the Voice". He then worked as a litigator in the New York office of the law firm

Akin Gump Akin may refer to: People *Akin (given name), a list of people *Akin (surname), a list of people *Akın, a list of people with the Turkish given name or surname Places *Akin, Illinois, a town in the United States *Akin, Aksaray, a village in Ak ...

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

In the 2018 elections, Delgado ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in . He defeated six other candidates in the Democratic Party's primary election and faced incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

John Faso John James Faso Jr. (born August 25, 1952) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2019. Faso was first elected to the post in 2016. A Republican, Faso previously represented the 102nd dis ...

in the November 6 general election. During Delgado's campaign, he criticized Faso for his votes against the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

. Faso, alongside the Congressional Leadership Fund and the

National Republican Congressional Committee The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and ...

, launched attacks on Delgado's former rap career, commonly referring to Delgado as a "big city rapper." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Editorial Board condemned the attacks as "race-baiting." Delgado won the general election, receiving 132,001 votes to Faso's 124,408. He was sworn into office on January 3, 2019.

2020

Delgado ran for reelection to a second term in 2020. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced Republican nominee Kyle Van De Water, an attorney and former trustee of the village of Millbrook, New York. Delgado won the general election with 192,100 votes to Van De Water's 151,475.

Tenure

As of June 2022, Delgado had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture, and Research ** Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit * Committee on Small Business ** Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access *

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...

** Subcommittee on Highways and Transit ** Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Lieutenant governor of New York

On May 3, 2022, after Lieutenant Governor

resigned,

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ha ...

appointed Delgado lieutenant governor of New York. Delgado was sworn in on May 25. He appeared on the Democratic primary ballot in the 2022 election for lieutenant governor. He won the primary election with 58% of the vote and appeared with Hochul on the general election ballot.

Electoral history

Personal life

Delgado married Lacey Schwartz in 2011. In 2015, Schwartz made '' Little White Lie'', a documentary film for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

about being biracial. Delgado and Schwartz have twin sons and live in Rhinebeck, north of

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...

. Delgado is tall.

References

External links

Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado
official government website * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Delgado, Antonio 1977 births 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American rappers African-American lawyers African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American people in New York (state) politics African-American rappers Afro-Mexican Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford American Rhodes Scholars American men's basketball players American people of Cape Verdean descent American politicians of Mexican descent American politicians of Colombian descent American people of Venezuelan descent Colgate Raiders men's basketball players Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Harvard Law School alumni Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Hispanic and Latino American people in New York (state) politics Lieutenant Governors of New York (state) Living people New York (state) lawyers People from Rhinebeck, New York Politicians from Schenectady, New York