Shortly before Republicans began their business in Nassau County earlier this week, Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg) announced her pick for lieutenant governor.
Former New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Hollis) will join Hochul on the ticket for the 2026 election. In 2017, Adams was elected to represent the 28th District of the New York City Council. From then until 2025, she represented Jamaica, Rochdale Village, Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park. In 2022, the Council elected Adams to serve as Speaker, making her the first mother, grandmother, and black person to serve in that capacity. Adams’ win of the Speaker ballot was seen as an early defeat for then-Mayor Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn), who had been whipping up votes for a rival candidate.
The Hochul-Adams ticket is the first time in state history that two women were featured together by a major party.
“Adrienne knows what it means to work hard and stand up for those who need it most. That’s why as New York City Council speaker, she led the charge to protect families, make housing more affordable, invest in our children, and stand up to anyone who seeks to harm our city,” Hochul said in a statement.
The Brooklyn Democratic Committee notably rescinded their endorsement of Hochul following the announcement.
“Major statewide political decisions require meaningful collaboration with the party leaders and elected officials who organize, mobilize, and deliver Democratic victories,” said Assemblywoman and Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte-Hermelyn (D-Flatbush) in a statement. “It is safe to conclude that the Brooklyn delegation…at the State Convention will be prone to voting against or abstaining from support for this ticket.”
Politico reports that the decision was allegedly personal between Bichotte-Hermelyn and Adams. Anonymous sources state that Bichotte-Hermelyn was disillusioned when Council members in the good graces of party leadership weren’t given enough plum committee assignments in the Council when Adams was Speaker. Politico also reports that Bichotte-Hermelyn is a more moderate Democrat and her increasingly-progressive committee might be ready to stage a mutiny.
Adams is receiving criticism from the GOP for her co-sponsorship for a 2021 bill that allowed legal Green Card holders, albeit non-citizens, to vote in New York City elections. The law would have allowed some 800,000 individuals a say in local affairs. It remained unsigned by then-Mayor Bill DeBlasio (D-Park Slope) as he left office. Mayor Adams neither signed nor vetoed it, which by default allowed it to become law in 2022.
The law was subsequently ruled unconstitutional by the New York Court of Appeals in a 6-1 vote in March last year. Non-citizens never did get to vote under the circumstances, as the law was challenged its entire lifespan. However, Adams expressed her “disappointment” in the ultimate fate of the bill.
Hochul’s selection of Adams makes for her third lieutenant governor pick since her tenure began in 2021. Former Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin (D-Harlem) was hand-picked by Hochul in September 2021. He served until April 2022 after he was indicted on federal charges of wire fraud and bribery, which were dropped in January 2025 after the death of a key witness.
Hochul selected then-Congressman Antonio Delgado (D-Rhinebeck) as her 2022 running mate. Delgado is now running to primary Hochul for the governorship in June.
