Antonio Delgado, who had been representing the 19th Congressional District that covers the Mid-Hudson Valley, has been sworn in as New York”™s new lieutenant governor.
Delgado is the replacement selected by Gov. Kathy Hochul to fill the position that was vacated with the resignation of Brian Benjamin, who currently is facing charges of bribery and fraud.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at the governor”™s office in Manhattan.
Hochul began the ceremony by talking about the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and indicated that she will not give up on pushing for tighter gun laws in New York.
“In partnership with my new lieutenant governor, we will leave no stone unturned. And our dogged pursuit of executive actions, directives from us, but also legislation that we believe is necessary to continue protecting the residents we are charged to represent,” Hochul said. “I just want to make sure that we never get this sense of feeling immune to the pain, because the pain that we felt from Buffalo, feeling from Texas, that has to be used as a catalyst for change. That cannot be normalized.”
Turning her attention to Delgado, Hochul said, “I want to let you know, we have many roads to travel. And like me, you’ll know every single pothole personally, before too long as you travel. But we also know that public service is truly the highest calling. There’s certainly sacrifices, and time away from family is one of the greatest.”
Delgado spoke about the continuing level of violence involving guns that is seen in the U.S.
“For over 60 years, the leading cause of death for kids and teens was car accidents. Since 2000, the leading cause is guns: weapons, weapons of war in our communities and in our schools,” Delgado said. “Too many parents like me and like Lacey (Mrs. Delgado) are left to worry if their kids will come bounding down the school bus stairs or running out of the school room lobby at the end of each day. Year after year after year it gets worse, but the response as a country does not change. Simply put, there are politicians out there who are bought and paid for by the NRA.”
Delgado said that as lieutenant governor, as in Congress, he”™d be working to help the middle class.
“The middle class is being hollowed out, the fastest growing class are the working poor, living paycheck to paycheck. Half the country couldn’t survive a $500 medical emergency bill without going into debt,” Delgado said. “Childcare costs skyrocketing, health care costs skyrocketing, student loan debts on the rise. We have to right this ship and create more equity and access points to opportunity and care.”
