NEW YORK 19th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT — Antonio Delgado has won the Democratic nomination to run for Congress in the New York 19th Congressional District. Delgado, an attorney, received 22% of the vote in a seven-way race. He pulled in some 7,690 votes. Gareth Rhodes came in second with 6,242 votes.

Delgado issued a statement that acknowledged his competition. He said, “I first want to congratulate my colleagues, Jeff Beals, Dave Clegg, Erin Collier, Brian Flynn, Gareth Rhodes and Pat Ryan. You all ran tough, good-natured campaigns and worked hard to give the people of this region an incredible selection of candidates to choose from.”

He added, “As I have traveled to every part of this region over the last year and a half, I have heard the stories of struggle, of people feeling like they are being pushed into the margins, left behind and forgotten. It’s time to turn that around and work hard for universal, affordable quality healthcare for all, to bring good jobs back to the Hudson Valley and the Catskills, and to create an economy that works for all of us.” Delgado will be running against Republican John Faso in the November election.

Delgado was the top fundraiser in the contest, bringing some $2.2 million to the race. He was a Rhodes Scholar and a graduate of Harvard Law School and he founded a hip-hop label. He is also a lawyer for the country’s biggest lobbying firm, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP, but is quick to point out that he works in the legal department in New York City and not in the lobbying arm of the company in Washington, DC (riverreporter.com/news-news-stories/delgado-healthcare-jobs-education).

The National Republican Congressional Committee issued a statement attempting to tie Delgado to the Democratic establishment: “Antonio Delgado is running to bring his liberal New York City values to the 19th District. His liberal colleagues at the largest lobbying firm in Washington are bankrolling his campaign because they know he would be a rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi.”

In Sullivan County, Gareth Rhodes was the top candidate, while local Democratic figures such as Sullivan County Democratic Committee Chair Donna Shick and former Town of Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini were backing Brian Flynn, who came in fourth in the county.

The 19th district includes all of Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties, and parts of Broome, Dutchess, Montgomery and Rensselaer counties.