Hochul taps Rep. Antonio Delgado to be New York lieutenant governor

By Devan Cole, CNN

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has tapped Democratic Rep. Antonio Delgado to be the state’s new lieutenant governor.

“I am proud to announce I am appointing Congressman Antonio Delgado, an outstanding leader and public servant, as lieutenant governor of New York,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a series of tweets on Tuesday.

“We share a belief in working together to get things done for New Yorkers, and Representative Delgado has an incredible record of doing just that in Congress,” she added.

Hochul’s office said the two will address reporters together in Albany later Tuesday.

Delgado, who has been representing New York’s 19th Congressional District since 2019, will replace former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, whose resignation last month came after he was indicted and arrested on charges in connection to a bribery scheme. Benjamin was appointed to the position by Hochul after she took over the state’s top job from Andrew Cuomo following his resignation last summer.

Delgado, 45, was among a group of New York Democrats in Congress calling for Cuomo to step down last year in the wake of sexual harassment allegations and his handling of Covid-19 deaths at state nursing homes.

In Congress, Delgado serves as the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit, and also has seats on the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Transportation and infrastructure. He has a record of bipartisanship, according to his biography, which said that in this Congress, nearly 90% of the legislation he’s co-sponsored is bipartisan.

Hochul has come under fire over the vetting process that preceded her decision to elevate Benjamin, who finished fourth in the 2021 Democratic primary for New York City comptroller — a campaign in which prosecutors now say he sought and received illegal contributions.

According to an indictment unsealed last month, Benjamin was indicted on multiple counts, including bribery and honest services wire fraud conspiracy, bribery, honest services wire fraud and two counts of falsification of records, for an alleged conspiracy that took place while he was a state senator. He has pleaded not guilty and is out on bond, according to court documents.

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