Gov: Blaz (or maybe Putin) behind Nixon run
WITH ACTRESS Cynthia Nixon eyeing a primary run against him, Gov. Cuomo apparently thinks somebody is meddling in the race.
“I think it was probably either the mayor of New York or Vladimir Putin,” Cuomo said, laughing loudly, when asked if he thought Mayor de Blasio had encouraged his friend to run. “I am going to leave it to you great investigative reporters to follow the facts and ferret out the truth.”
The “Sex and the City” star is reportedly edging closer to entering the race for governor and challenging Cuomo in a Democratic primary. She has been working with two consultants from Mayor de Blasio’s political team — Rebecca Katz and Bill Hyers.
Nixon has been an outspoken activist for public education and other progressive causes. And she’s a longtime friend of de Blasio, who didn’t exactly deny discussing the subject with her.
“She’s a strong, independent woman who makes her own decisions,” he said. “I haven’t spoken to her in a while. I’m not going to go into any private conversations with a friend, obviously, but whatever she does, she’s going to be a politically active person, she always has been.”
Nor would he divulge any conversations with the Kremlin.
“I think it’s very important you call Vladimir Putin directly to ask him,” de Blasio cracked.
Nixon publicist Rebecca Capellan said in a statement Tuesday that the actress was continuing to explore a potential candidacy and “when such a decision is made, Cynthia will be sure to make her plans public.”
During an unrelated conference call with reporters Wednesday, Cuomo shrugged off the celebrity status that Nixon could bring to a race for governor should she decide to run.
“Normally, name recognition is relevant when it has some connection to the endeavor,” Cuomo said. “If it was just about name recognition, then I’m hoping that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and Billy Joel don’t get into the race, because if it was just about name recognition, that would really be a problem.”
De Blasio refused to say whether he’d endorse Nixon, who he said he met through her education activism and whom he called “extraordinary.” But he said any primary bid, from anyone, against his Albany foe wouldn’t shock him.
“Democrats are rising up, and progressives are rising up. They want change. This is a national phenomena,” he said. “The progressives in the party are ascendant, and want to see a Democratic Party that is true to its original values. So I’m just not surprised by it.” Asked whether Cuomo was a progressive, de Blasio said the had “real political differences” and that he was “very uncomfortable” of Cuomo’s handling of state Senate Republicans and the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference.
In turn, Cuomo savaged de Blasio during a 20-minute interview on NY1, using the word “repugnant” repeatedly to describe the activities of the de Blasio administration and accusing the mayor of being all about “rhetoric” instead of results.
He also pushed back against de Blasio’s claims that the state budget proposed by the governor would shortchange the city.
“The mayor says that every year,” Cuomo said. As for how a Nixon run might affect his relationship with de Blasio, Cuomo seemed to swipe at them both.
“There is no doubt that the mayor and I have political differences. We just view progressive politics differently. I don’t think progressive politics is a function of rhetoric and words,” he said. “I think it is a function of results.”