She worked as coordinator for public defense in Cochabamba and as an examining magistrate before being selected to serve on the department's Departmental Electoral Court, part of the first group of women to hold seats on the bench.

Delgado's tenure saw a deterioration in relations between herself and the administration due to her willingness to challenge executive interference in legislative matters, briefly upending the subservient role the legislature had begun to take starting from Morales's second term.

Her parents' rural roots led Delgado to heavily identify with Kallawaya culture as a child, with the family often returning to vacation in Pumujri, where she participated in indigenous festivities and traditions.

In 1991, during the period of judicial reform spearheaded by René Blattmann—which for the first time prioritized the appointment of impartial professionals over fulfilling partisan quotas—Delgado was nominated by these women's organization to serve as a magistrate on Cochabamba's Departmental Electoral Court.

[3][5] Throughout her fifteen years of public service, Delgado remained on the sidelines of partisan politics, a situation that changed in late 2005, when her name was put forward by several women's organizations as a potential candidate for a seat in the newly-formed Constituent Assembly on behalf of the Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP).

[6] The postulation of retired former magistrates to contest elective office was a not uncommon tactic among political parties of the day, taking advantage of the good public image individuals like Delgado had accrued as impartial arbiters of the law.

Though intended to alleviate the crisis of judicial independence the country faced at the time, Delgado later lamented that the legislature's ability to pre-select candidates made the judiciary subject to the whims of "buddies and friends" in the Legislative Assembly.

[8] Delgado's prominent position as a regional authority led President Morales to consider appointing her as the department's acting prefect in replacement of Manfred Reyes Villa, whom voters had recently recalled.

For a while, she remained the president's preferred pick among a crowded field of possible candidates and was one of the final two contenders for the position, together with David Herrera, who enjoyed the support of the department's social movements.

[10] In her service as vice minister, Delgado assisted in drafting and elaborating supreme decrees issued by the executive branch, contributed to the process of implementing the new Constitution, and successfully developed a system for monitoring the performance of public management.

[16][17] Entering parliament, Delgado was selected to serve as chair of the MAS caucus in the Chamber of Deputies, a decision in line with Morales's stated gender equity criteria for leadership positions.

[23] Her tenure saw the Chamber of Deputies approve legislation aimed at guaranteeing equal conditions for disabled persons and combating human trafficking,[27][28] and though she opposed the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, viewing it as contravening the Constitution, she did not rule out the possibility of regulating civil unions and division of property.

[30] Regarding longstanding accusations of legislative "submission" before the executive branch, Delgado rebutted that many bills sent by the president and his team often saw up to eighty percent of their text amended and modified before final approval by the chamber.

[35][α] Delgado's much-publicized face-off with the minister of government soured relations between herself and the executive branch, and though some groups within the MAS and the opposition expressed support for her continuation as president, the political damage done proved insurmountable.

[39][40] In its yearly reallocation of legislative positions, Delgado found herself left out of any and all of the chamber's commissions and committees, and her participation in party meetings was limited only to those held by her own departmental caucus, a situation she described as punishment for thinking freely.

She became a leading advocate of the "freethinkers", a faction of MAS defectors that criticized the ruling party's methods and practices without breaking with the government's left-wing ideological position nor aligning with the conservative opposition.

[49][50] Following the agreement, Delgado was invited to accompany del Granado as his running mate; however, she rejected the offer, stating that her aim was establishing a long-term alternative progressive political project for the country, not seeking a candidacy.

[52] The MSM's disappointing electoral performance, garnering less than three percent of the national popular vote, lost the party its legal status, leaving it unable to contest the 2015 regional elections.

[53] By that point, Delgado had already distanced herself from the party's electoral campaign, stating that a lack of coordination and mutual mistrust between herself and del Granado had harmed their ability to develop a shared political project.

[61] In January, the TSE disqualified Delgado's candidacy, along with those of other prominent MAS defectors Eduardo Maldonado, Ever Moya, and Edwin Tupa, all of whom had been running for the mayoralty of their respective department's capital cities.

[59] For Delgado, the precedent set was "the most important thing",[63] though, in the ensuing years, she continued to fight to receive economic damages owed, even as the government asserted that that section of the UN's ruling was "eminently recommendatory".