India Walton, a democratic socialist who garnered national attention when she nearly toppled Buffalo’s long-serving mayor as a political upstart, will return to electoral politics and run for lieutenant governor as Antonio Delgado’s running mate.
In selecting Ms. Walton, Mr. Delgado, the current lieutenant governor, has chosen to align himself with the most progressive faction of the Democratic Party, which has been frustrated by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s refusal to raise taxes and her willingness to restart construction of natural gas pipelines in New York.
Their anger with Ms. Hochul has fueled Mr. Delgado’s long-shot challenge against his current boss, whom he fell out with roughly two years after being appointed to the role in 2022. Mr. Delgado, though not himself a democratic socialist, is hoping to cobble together support from the coalition that helped propel Zohran Mamdani to a mayoral victory in New York City. Mr. Delgado will announce his choice of running mate on Wednesday.
Ms. Walton said in a statement that she looked forward to working with Mr. Delgado to raise taxes on the wealthy, pass a universal health care bill and strengthen protections for undocumented immigrants in the state.
“New Yorkers deserve leadership that puts them first, and that is what this campaign embodies,” Ms. Walton said. “I have never shied away from bold ideas and I am excited to partner with someone who displays that same courage.”
Though he has raised more than a million dollars and claims to have unlocked millions more in public matching funds, Mr. Delgado has yet to show momentum in his efforts to unseat Ms. Hochul. Few elected officials have rallied to his side, and a Siena University survey released on Tuesday showed him trailing the governor by more than 50 percentage points.
Ms. Walton brings some much-needed progressive bona fides to his ticket.
She is a registered nurse who now works for RootsAction, a progressive advocacy organization. She shot to fame in 2021 when she ran an insurgent campaign for mayor of Buffalo and defeated the incumbent, Byron W. Brown, in a Democratic primary. Her shock win was held up nationally as a sign of the growing strength of democratic socialist candidates, who focused on the unfairness of the current economic system.
In the general election, Mr. Brown marshaled a forceful write-in campaign. He spent $100,000 to distribute tens of thousands of ink stamps with his name, which is permitted by state law, so that voters could ink his name on the ballots.
Despite receiving support from prominent democratic socialists like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ms. Walton lost to Mr. Brown in the general election by about 20 percentage points. Two years later, she lost a primary bid to join the Buffalo Common Council.
“She has never been afraid to challenge the status quo, stand up to powerful interests and put working families first,” Mr. Delgado said in a statement. “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.”
Mr. Delgado’s choice was first reported by Investigative Post.
As they head into the State Democratic Convention in Syracuse on Friday, both Mr. Delgado and Ms. Hochul have struggled to find running mates. The mostly ceremonial position was made even more unattractive last year during budget negotiations, when the governor pushed for changes in how lieutenant candidates appear on the ballot.
Now, instead of running separately, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a ticket, similar to presidential and vice-presidential candidates. In practice, this could mean the No. 2 picks have far less independence and are limited in their ability to raise money for themselves.
Ms. Hochul has discussed the post with several prominent Democrats and been turned down, as has Mr. Delgado.
Last fall, Mr. Delgado offered to make Julia Salazar, a prominent state senator and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, his running mate. When she declined, Mr. Delgado approached Councilwoman Alexa Avilés, another D.S.A. member, to gauge her interest. She also declined.
With Ms. Walton, Mr. Delgado found a woman of color who, like Ms. Avilés and Ms. Salazar, has been supported by the Working Families Party.
Mr. Delgado left his House seat representing a Hudson Valley district to become Ms. Hochul’s second-in-command after Brian Benjamin resigned amid a public corruption scandal.
The governor then fell out with Mr. Delgado as he became increasingly critical of fellow Democrats, including former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who Mr. Delgado had urged to drop out of the 2024 presidential election. Last February, Mr. Delgado announced he would not be on Ms. Hochul’s re-election ticket; four months later, he declared his candidacy.
Benjamin Oreskes is a reporter covering New York State politics and government for The Times.
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