After outspending all his competitors, Delgado won the primary with 22% of the vote, edging out his closest opponents Gareth Rhodes, who won 17.9%, and Pat Ryan, who won 17.7%. Delgado ran up the score in heavily populated Ulster County, as well as his home county of Dutchess, the second largest vote share in the district. He also won Schoharie and Montgomery counties, while taking second place in all but one other county.
Faso, who hadn’t chimed in much during the primary–save for a few attacks on Jeff Beals, arguably the most left-wing, anti-establishment candidate–put out a press release shortly after Delgado’s victory, attacking him as a carpetbagger and a liberal who was out of step with the district’s values. Delgado, for his part, did not hold back.
The final showdown
Delgado was quick to take swipes at Faso’s presence in the district. This became a key factor in the campaign following Faso’s controversial decision not to hold a town hall–and neighboring congressman Sean Maloney’s decision to “adopt” NY19 for a day, holding a town hall in his stead–in the heat of the national battle over Obamacare. “The man has somehow earned the nickname no-show,” he said of Faso, “and to me, that is a very unfortunate outcome. Your job is to show up, your job is to fight for the people of your district.”
Delgado also attacked Faso frequently and consistently on his decision to vote for the unpopular AHCA, the Republican proposal to repeal and replace the comparatively popular Affordable Care Act. In their first general election ad, Delgado’s campaign highlighted Faso’s broken promise to Andrea Mitchell, a woman with a brain tumor who demanded that Faso not take away her health care.
Faso decided to direct his attacks further below the belt, focusing not on Delgado’s policies but on the content of his rap music. Faso described the lyrics–which contain profanity and iconoclastic attacks on America’s legacy of “white supremacy”–as “inconsistent with the views of the people of the 19th District and America.” The New York Times Editorial Board later derided Faso’s condemnations as “race-baiting.”
But that didn’t stop Faso and Republican groups from waging an all-out assault on the subject. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, released numerous ads attacking the lyrics–including one which quoted Chronogram’s words out of context–as did the NRCC. Rather than helping Faso, these ads actually precipitated a dip in his polling numbers. It could be argued that they helped put Delgado over the top.
During debates, Delgado arguably got the upper hand on Faso–who was sometimes even combative with the audience, who he described as a “mob”–in most clashes. That said, Delgado did have at least one gaffe of his own when he stated “Israel is not a Jewish democracy.” He later walked back that comment, following it up with an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in which he and his wife discussed her Jewish background and the presence of Judaism in their household.
Another factor in the race was third party candidates. At first, there was a wide array of third-party candidates seeking to join the fray, from an author to a school board member to a social worker. However, following legal challenges to many candidates' ballot petitions, the third-party field was whittled down to just two: Green Party Candidate Steve Greenfield, and progressive independent Diane Neal, star of Law and Order SVU. While it was thought that the two might play a large role in the race, they ultimately failed to garner a significant number of votes.
By October, Delgado emerged as a slight favorite. He outraised Faso 2-to-1 with $8 million–making him one of the top House fundraisers this cycle–and was leading in most polls. Still, his victory was anything but assured. While Democrats came into election day with cautious optimism, they were no doubt ready to be disappointed once again.
Mr. Delgado goes to Washington
Delgado’s victory makes him the first Democrat to represent the Hudson Valley since 2010, when Democratic incumbent Scott Murphy was defeated by Republican Chris Gibson. No doubt his victory will serve as much needed relief to the progressive voters and grassroots organizations who propelled him to victory with their energy, passion, and robust canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts.
