Kathy Hochul Taps Adrienne Adams As Running Mate

By Katie Honan, The City

Feb. 4, 2026, 1:37 p.m.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has selected former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as her re-election running mate, launching the first all-women slate to campaign for New York State’s top offices.

“I’m grateful to begin building the next chapter of New York’s future with Adrienne Adams, our next lieutenant governor,” Hochul said in a statement.

“Raised by two union workers, Adrienne knows what it means to work hard and stand up for those who need it most.”

Hochul faces current Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado in the June Democratic primary. On Tuesday, Delgado announced India Walton as his running mate. In 2021, while running as a democratic socialist, Walton won the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, only to lose the general election to the incumbent she had defeated, Byron Brown, who ran as a write-in candidate.

The Democratic nominee for New York governor will most likely face Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in the general election.

In a statement, Adams said she was “honored” to work with Gov. Hochul for New Yorkers.

“There’s too much on the line for us to let Donald Trump raise costs, rip away child care and wage war on New York families — and Gov. Hochul and I are ready for this fight,” she said. “Let’s get to work.”

Adams was first elected to the City Council in 2017 and served as speaker from January 2022 until the end of 2025, when she was term-limited out of her seat.

She launched an unsuccessful mayoral campaign in March 2025, bolstered by support from Attorney General Letitia James, but placed a distant fourth in the June primary.

Hochul’s announcement comes a day after she reached her highest favorability numbers in the latest poll from Siena University, at 49%.

That poll, conducted in late January, also found she would defeat both Blakeman and Delgado — besting the Republican 54% to 28%, and her Democratic rival 64% to 11%, according to the data.

Her pick of Adams, who lives in and has represented Queens, could help Hochul shore up support across New York City where the majority of Democrats statewide live.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who received a key endorsement from Hochul last September, has so far stayed out of the race.

In an exit interview with City & State, Adams said she expected “to be connected to politics in one way or another, and I am looking for the next great way to serve.”

“I would never rule out elected office ever again,” she said. “Who knows what’s on the horizon. It may not be the immediate thing, but who knows what’s on the horizon.”

This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.