After a long primary battle between seven Democrats in the race to represent the 19th Congressional District, Antonio Delgado took the victory.

"We're excited about the prospect of really fighting for the folks here, all throughout this district," says the Rhinebeck resident. "Working folks who have been left behind."

Delgado says now that the primary is over, the focus is on outreach as the general election approaches.

"Build a coalition," he says of his strategy to engage new supporters. "We expand on what we have done for the past year and a half. We reach beyond the Democratic Party, continue to motivate, organize."

Delgado says he has lived the story of upward mobility: he came from working class roots in Schenectady and went on to study at Colgate, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard Law. He says education was emphasized daily while growing up. 

"Preaching how that was going to be the gateway to opportunity the great equalizer, we have forgotten that as a country," says Delgado. "We have stopped building ladders for our future."

The former New York City attorney says those experiences growing up are what set him apart from his opponent, Republican Representative John Faso. 

"Somebody who understands what opportunity can do for you, when you come for the margins," explains Delgado. "Who understands what a good education can do for you when you come from the margins."

Rep. John Faso's campaign manager Tom Szymanski replied to Delgado's statements in an email saying:

"Having been raised in a middle class, working family and having had to work full-time by day to put himself through school at night, John Faso knows firsthand the value of opportunity and hard work," says Szymanski. 

He adds Faso knows more about the district having lived here longer.

"Instead of talking vaguely about ‘ladders,’ we should be talking about more better-paying jobs and lower taxes," he added. 

As for Delgado's priorities if elected, number one is health care.

"Making sure that we provide universal health care for everyone, quality affordable health care," says Delgado.  

Number two: infrastructure items like roads, rail, broadband and wireless access.

"It's a shame that right here in New York, in one of the richest countries on Earth, we have communities living without quality cell service and broadband access," he said.

Number three: education, speaking about universal Pre-K and student loans. 

"We have left our children behind," said Delgado.