With just over a week until Official Day in New York, the Democratic left-wing focus on a contentious statewide race shaped by ideological, ethnic issues , influence of money and lobbying in Albany.
No contest for governor: The incumbent, Kathy Hochul, has a huge edge in fundraising and in opinion polls for the party’s most left-wing challenger, public advocate Jumaane Williams. of New York City.
But in Mr. Williams’ mate, Ana María Archila, the left wing saw a legitimate opportunity to seize the lieutenant governor’s race and gain a foothold in the Capitol.
Miss Archila, a seasoned activist and first-time Labor Family Party-backed candidate, gained national attention when she confronted Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona in an elevator on Capitol Hill during a hearing on the Supreme Court’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, who has been charged with sexual assault.
The viral moment, which she said was unplanned, led to her invited by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as her guest to the State of the Union speech in 2019.
Now, Archila is hoping to make an impact in Albany.
The race for governor has presented competing visions for the role of an office with few statutory mandates, but still serves as a familiar stepping stone to a higher office: Two of The last three governors, including Ms. Hochul, have stepped up from the governorship. after their predecessors resigned amid scandal.
Indeed, during a televised debate on Wednesday, Ms. Archila vowed to use the office of lieutenant colonel – often a ceremonial role with little power beyond chairing the state Senate and serving as hostess. under governor succession – as an independent podium. can act as a counterweight to the governor’s office.
“I’m not going to be a lieutenant governor quietly in the back, smiling and cutting the ribbons,” said Archila, a clear nod to Hochul, who has been largely ignored by the Cuomo administration. when she held this position.
Ms Archila stressed that office is an elected position and should therefore not be disadvantageous to the governor, saying she would “stand up against the governor when he or she moves away” from helping those people who are working.
The contest for lieutenant colonel governor fell into turmoil in April, after former Lieutenant General Brian Benjamin resigned after he arrested for federal bribery.
New York’s 2022 Primary Election Guide
As prominent Democratic officials sought to protect their records, Republicans saw an opportunity to infiltrate general election races.
Ms. Hochul succeeded in pushing for legislation to remove Mr. Benjamin’s name from the ballot and choose Antonio Delgadothen a congressman representing the Hudson Valley, as her new governor and running mate.
Despite joining at the last minute, Mr. Delgado entered the Democratic primary with the backing of Hochul’s campaign and support from party organizations and labor unions. key actions, as well as a large arsenal of wars that he quickly deployed to flood the airwaves of television advertising.
During Wednesday’s debate, Mr. Delgado said he had been chosen by Ms Hochul as her second-in-command because of his record in Congress and as an “active partner”.
Hochul has many things at stake: While the governor and lieutenant governor candidates run for the same ticket in the general election, they run separately in the June 28 primary. .
If Mr. Delgado loses, Ms. Hochul, who is favored to win the Democratic primary, is likely to be forced to run against a gubernatorial candidate not of her own choice next month. 11. And if Ms. Archila wins, Republicans will likely find ways to link her left-wing credentials to Ms. Hochul, a more moderate Democrat.
The race, which featured three Latino candidates, could also mark a major milestone for Latinos eager to elevate one of their own to statewide office in New York for the first time, following underrepresented scarcity even though Latinos make up about one-fifth of the state’s population.
Mr. Delgado, 45, identifies as Afro-Latino, although Latino leaders have question his legacy, while Ms. Archila, 43, was born and raised in Colombia. The third candidate, 48-year-old Diana Reyna, becomes the first Dominican-American woman elected to public office in the state as she represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens on the City Council.
“When Latinos aren’t at the table, our problems aren’t so localized,” Reyna, who also served as Mayor Eric Adams’ deputy when he was Brooklyn district president, said in an interview. question this week.
“We don’t represent the affluent community, we represent the poor, the working class, the single family home that people want to keep and pass on to their children.”
Both Archila and Reyna face a tough escalation to overtake Mr. Delgado, a moderate Democrat from Schenectady who was the first person of color to be elected to Congress in upstate New York after when the Flipping seats in the Republican-held House of Representatives in 2018.
First, he has a significant fundraising advantage: Based on the money transferred from his congressional campaign account, he had about $2 million in May, more than six times what he’s paid. his challengers combined. Mr. Delgado has so far spent more than $4 million on TV and digital ads since his appointment as governor, according to AdImpact, a company that tracks TV ad spend.
He ran ads — which highlighted his background as a Rhodes Scholar, Harvard Law School graduate, and brief career as a rap artist — while skipping most calls. debate and forum candidates, avoid potential scrutiny, make opponents bored.
Mr. Delgado said he was busy dealing with the office, but he was also “on the ground connecting with people” at metro stations and with small business owners and clergy members.
He also received outside help from a super PAC funded by the billionaire founder of a cryptocurrency exchange platform. spent about 1 million dollars on advertising support him. He asserted during Wednesday’s debate that his decision-making would not be influenced by outside money, saying he doesn’t “know who this crypto billionaire is.”
The party’s progressive activism wing is looking to build on its partial success from 2018, when New York City public advocate Mr. Williams launched an insurgency campaign for the lieutenant governor and come within six percentage points beat Mrs. Hochul, beat her in Manhattan and Brooklyn in the Democratic primaries.
Indeed, Ms. Archila’s campaign hopes to have a powerful effect on Latino voters and left-wing white libertarians from New York City, as well as those in boroughs. progressive hot zone along the Hudson River and the Capital Region. Mr. Delgado, a more familiar face in the Hudson Valley, is likely to pick that wall of support and disrupt the Latino vote, while also attracting many Black voters, according to political analysts. .
Constrained with money, Ms. Archila ran an intense low-budget campaign based on organizational tactics from her decades of activist work. She joined the union of Starbucks workers in Queens; protest with activists at Parliament House; and perform stunts in public, such as appearing at Mr. Delgado’s office in Albany after he refused to participate in a debate.
Archila has spearheaded efforts to organize immigrant communities, most notably through Make the Road New York, a grassroots organization she co-founded in 2007 that is supporting her campaign.
In February, she took a break from organizing politics when the Labor Family Party – a progressive third party – asked her in February if she would run for lieutenant governor alongside Mr Williams, the candidate of the Labor Party. whether they appoint governor or not. Together, the two have proposed sweeping plans to build affordable housing, enact universal health care, and allocate $3 billion in cash to underserved migrant workers. criteria for pandemic relief.
“New York State is a very rich state,” Archila said at a milk tea party in Flushing, Queens last week after receiving approval from State Senator John Liu. “Our problem is never that we lack resources, our problem is that we prioritize the interests of those who already have a lot and who are able to use their leverage, their money to make money. impact our policies.”
Her campaign appears to have gained some ground after Mr. Benjamin’s arrest, as a group of city and state lawmakers, as well as Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Jamaal Bowman, authentication her candidacy. As for possible endorsement from Ms. Ocasio-Cortez: “We’re working on it,” Ms. Archila said.
It remains unclear whether those confirmations translate into more votes, especially in an election that rarely draws voter participation.
During Mr. Liu’s endorsement session outside the public library in Flushing, some curious passersby stopped to listen to Ms. Archila as she spoke, her assistant holding an iPhone to live-stream the event for the two of them. remote viewing.
Maria Estrada, 72, a Bolivian immigrant and registered Democrat, stops to select campaign materials. As a regular voter, she said her biggest concern is helping the homeless.
When asked who she would vote for in the race for governor, she said:
“I don’t know. Who’s Hispanic.”
