Antonio Ramon Delgado (born January 28, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the lieutenant governor of New York since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Delgado served as the U.S. representative from New York’s 19th congressional district from 2019 to 2022. He is the first person of either African–American or Latino descent to be elected to Congress from Upstate New York,^[1] and the first Latino person to hold statewide office in New York.^[2]

On May 3, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she had appointed Delgado to serve as lieutenant governor, after Brian Benjamin resigned; Delgado was sworn in on May 25, 2022. On November 8, 2022, Delgado won a full term as lieutenant governor, on Hochul’s ticket.

Delgado was born on January 28, 1977, in Schenectady, New York,^[3] to Tony Delgado and Thelma P. Hill.^[4] He is of African American,^[5] Cape Verdean,^[6] Mexican, Colombian, and Venezuelan ancestry.^[7] Delgado has three younger brothers: Kito, Kendall, and Julian. He grew up in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood of Schenectady.^[8]

Delgado attended Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School and played for the school’s basketball team as a forward. In his senior year, The Daily Gazette named Delgado to its all-area second team. He then enrolled at Colgate University and played for the Colgate Raiders men’s basketball team alongside future Golden State Warriors player Adonal Foyle.^[9][10] Delgado graduated from Colgate in 1999^[9] and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to study at The Queen’s College, Oxford, from which he received a Master of Arts in 2001.^[11] In 2005, Delgado graduated from Harvard Law School.^[12]

After law school, Delgado moved to Los Angeles in 2005 and worked in the music industry.^[12] In 2007, he released a socially conscious rap album under the stage name “AD the Voice”.^[13][14] He then worked as a litigator in the New York office of the law firm Akin Gump.^[15]

In the 2018 elections, Delgado ran for the United States House of Representatives in New York’s 19th congressional district. He defeated six other candidates in the Democratic Party‘s primary election and faced incumbent Republican John Faso in the November 6 general election.^[16]

During Delgado’s campaign, he criticized Faso for his votes against the Affordable Care Act.^[17] Faso, alongside the Congressional Leadership Fund and the National Republican Congressional Committee, launched attacks on Delgado’s former rap career,^[18][19] commonly referring to Delgado as a “big city rapper.”^[20] The New York Times Editorial Board condemned the attacks as “race-baiting.”^[21]

Delgado won the general election, receiving 132,001 votes to Faso’s 124,408.^[22][23] He was sworn into office on January 3, 2019.^[24]

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.^[25] Delgado won the general election with 192,100 votes to Van De Water’s 151,475.^[26]

Delgado had voted in line with Joe Biden‘s stated position 100% of the time.^[27]

• 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
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment^[28]

On May 3, 2022, Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin resigned after being indicted on federal Bribery and Wire Fraud charges, New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Delgado lieutenant governor of New York.^[29][30] Delgado was sworn in on May 25.^[31] He appeared on the Democratic primary ballot in the 2022 election for lieutenant governor.^[32] He won the primary election with 58% of the vote and appeared with Hochul on the general election ballot.^[33] Hochul and Delgado won the election and were reinaugurated on January 1, 2023. On July 2, 2024, Governor Hochul announced that she is running for reelection in 2026 and will keep Delgado on the ticket.^[34] On July 10, 2024, Delgado called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 United States presidential election.^[35]

Delgado married Lacey Schwartz in 2011.^[4] They have twin sons and live in Rhinebeck, north of Poughkeepsie.^[9]

Delgado is 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall.^[37]

• List of African-American United States representatives
• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
• List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States

• Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado official government website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Appearances on C-SPAN