Churchill: Antonio Delgado's remarkable life

ALBANY — In 2018, Antonio Delgado did something remarkable. In a congressional district Donald Trump had won by seven points, the Democratic newcomer beat an incumbent Republican with relative ease.

But anybody who had underestimated Delgado going into that election hadn't been paying attention to his biography. He had a long history of doing remarkable things.

Delgado, raised in both a relatively poor section of Schenectady and a relatively affluent part of Guilderland, was a star scholar and athlete who, remarkably enough, went on to become the first Rhodes Scholar from Bishop Gibbons High School. He went to Harvard Law School, too.

"I've always felt like I'm supposed to be someplace big. I'm supposed to affect a lot of lives and do it in a powerful way," he told this newspaper in 1998, when he was 22. "I feel like I'm supposed to be in the light so I can be enlightening. To me, setting a high goal isn't unrealistic.''

Twenty-four years later, as Delgado prepares to be sworn in as the state's next lieutenant governor, those words look prescient. His path to the office, though, did include some detours, including time spent as a rap musician known as "AD the Voice."

You can still find a few of his songs on Spotify, if you'd like to enjoy the unusual experience of listening to a future lieutenant governor rap about, among other topics, the evils of rapacious capitalism. 

Delgado quickly (and wisely) moved on from his music career, taking a job as a lawyer at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a high-powered legal and lobbying firm where his list of clients included Apollo Global Management, a leveraged buyout specialist with a history of practicing, um, rapacious capitalism.

The path from the rap world to the halls of Akin Gump is not a well-worn one, I would imagine. But again, as I keep saying, Delgado's journey has been nothing if not remarkable.

Has he also been a remarkable congressman?

Given his low profile and aversion to saying anything controversial or even particularly memorable, it would be easy to conclude that he hasn't.

Delgado, 45, is nowhere near as loud or prominent as, say, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the downstate Democrat also first elected in 2018, or Elise Stefanik, the Republican who shares his Capital Region roots. Delgado has not rocked the boat in Washington.

But it is a mistake to judge members of Congress by how frequently they appear on cable news or by how much outrage they stoke on Twitter. The politicians who grab the most attention often are not the most constructive.

The Center for Elective Lawmaking, a Vanderbilt University group that grades lawmakers on how well they advance legislation ranked Delgado the 68th most effective member of the 240 Democrats in the 116th Congress, which isn't at all bad for a newcomer. (Ocasio-Cortez was ranked as one of the least-effective members.)

Meanwhile, a Georgetown University index ranked Delgado the fourth most bipartisan member of Congress, which helps explain how he won his 2020 reelection in that relatively conservative district by 12 points — easily outperforming Joe Biden, who narrowly won the district with less than 50 percent of the vote.

Delgado has been moderate (temperamentally and ideologically) in an immoderate age, which perhaps made him a surprising option for Gov. Kathy Hochul. After all, her first choice for lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, was a pick designed to appease progressives, until he resigned after being indicted. Oopsy!

With Delgado as her do-over, chosen just four years after he won his first election, the governor is doubling down on her own moderation, relative to an increasingly liberal party. She is also going with an all-upstate ticket, which is a no-no in a New York political world dominated by downstate voters and interests.

That isn't the only reason there's risk in picking Delgado, who lives in Rhinebeck with his wife and twin boys. His departure from the 19th congressional district race seemingly makes the contest much more winnable for Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, as Stefanik was eager to note.

"As he jumps ship from Nancy’s doomed Titanic to Kathy’s criminal cesspool in Albany," she said in a statement, "we thank Antonio Delgado for his incredible help ensuring Republicans are one huge step closer to winning back the House and firing Nancy Pelosi once and for all."

Yeesh. Remember when we expected politicians to at least pretend to be civil and gracious?

There's also risk in the move for Delgado, who will have to win in both the primary and general election to remain lieutenant governor. Lose and he'll be without a job come January.

But the potential reward is obvious, given that Delgado's new role has so often led to the governor's office. Would it surprise anyone if that proves to be his path?

Given Antonio Delgado's remarkable life, so far, would anybody bet against him?