Former NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is Hochul's pick for running mate

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that Adrienne Adams, a former New York City Council speaker, would be her lieutenant governor running mate this fall.

Adams, 65, a moderate Democrat from the South Jamaica section of Queens, spent eight years on the City Council, the last four as speaker and sometime adversary of former Mayor Eric Adams. She was known for working on housing, health care and public safety issues. She was the first Black woman to be council speaker.

If Hochul is reelected with Adams as her running mate, it will be the first time the state’s top two offices are held by women.

"Raised by two union workers, Adrienne knows what it means to work hard and stand up for those who need it most," Hochul said in a statement. "As Donald Trump attacks this state relentlessly and Bruce Blakeman bends the knee before him, I need a fighter in my corner who’ll stand strong for New York families."

Hochul was referring to the Republican president and the Nassau County executive and presumptive Republican candidate for governor.

Adams would be officially nominated for lieutenant governor at the Democratic State Convention Friday in Syracuse.

"I am honored to stand side by side with Gov. Kathy Hochul in her fight for a safe, affordable and resilient New York," Adams said in statement distributed by Hochul’s campaign.

"As NYC Council Speaker, I spent every day working to find common ground on affordable housing, child care and lowering costs for New Yorkers struggling to get by," Adams said. "We made progress, but there’s more work to do — and with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s leadership, we’re going to get it done together."

Blakeman, who has yet to name a lieutenant governor candidate, called Adams a "radical running mate."

The Hochul-Adams team could face a Democratic primary in June against current Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.

Delgado also announced a running mate Wednesday: India Walton, a Democratic socialist who garnered national attention when she defeated Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown in a 2021 Democratic primary, though she eventually lost to him in the general election.

Delgado's announcement comes as he is trying to upend Hochul by appealing to the party's far left and progressive members. He called Walton unafraid to "challenge the status quo."

"Together, we’re building a movement that’s about affordability, dignity and delivering real results, including taxing the rich to finally fund universal child care, universal health care and housing as a human right," Delgado said.

Adams, if elected, also would become the third lieutenant governor to serve under Hochul, a relatively rapid turnover given the governor’s short tenure.

Hochul ascended from lieutenant governor to the top spot in August 2021 when Andrew Cuomo resigned. She initially tapped then-Sen. Brian Benjamin as her No. 2, but he served just seven months before resigning amid a federal probe about his campaign spending, though the case was eventually dropped.

Hochul in May 2022 appointed Delgado, then a Hudson Valley congressman, to be lieutenant governor and the ticket narrowly won reelection that fall. But Delgado eventually split with the governor — he wanted to take the party in a more progressive direction — and last June announced he would fight her in a gubernatorial primary. Despite that, Delgado didn’t resign and remains the state’s second-highest elected official.

But he would have to earn at least 25% of the delegates’ vote at the Syracuse convention or gather 15,000 petition signatures from enrolled Democrats by early April to qualify for a June 23 primary.

Blakeman's running mate will likely emerge before or at the Republican state convention next week in Garden City.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy