MIRANDA WARNING
Gov. Cuomo will be challenged from the left in Democratic primary by Cynthia Nixon – who played the brainy Miranda in “Sex and the City” and now promises fixes to broken subway and health care systems. ‘Sex & the City’ star Nixon running for Cuomo’s job
ALBANY — Actress Cynthia Nixon on Monday made it official — she is challenging Gov. Cuomo in this year’s Democratic primary.
“I love New York, and today I’m announcing my candidacy for governor,” Nixon said on Twitter.
The message was accompanied by a more-thantwo-minute video.
“Something has to change,” the “Sex and the City” star says in the slickly produced spot. “We want our government to work again on health care, ending mass incarceration, fixing our broken subway.”
And while she never mentioned Cuomo by name in the video, she took a shot at the two-term Democratic governor by saying, “We are sick of politicians who care more about headlines and power than they do about us.”
“Our leaders are letting us down,” she said. “We are now the most unequal state in the entire country, with both incredible wealth and extreme poverty.”
Her decision immediately elevated what seemed a cakewalk to the nomination for Cuomo into a national race that immediately trended on Twitter. Looking to become New York’s first woman and openly gay governor, Nixon, 51, received immediate support from her “Sex and the City” castmate Kristin Davis, who played Charlotte on the show opposite Nixon’s brainy Miranda Hobbes. “No one cares more than she does about EVERY person getting a fair change and a good education,” she wrote. “I know that she would be an excellent Governor!” Comedian Rosie O’Donnell also feels Nixon’s the one. “CYNTHIA NIXON FOR GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK ! #myFULLsupport,” O’Donnell tweeted along with a picture of the two of them. A Cuomo campaign spokesman called it “great that we live in a democracy where anyone can run for office” while citing a number of Cuomo’s progressive achievements. Among them: the legalization of same-sex marriage, passage of the SAFE Act gun control law, enactment of a $15 hourly minimum wage, creation of a statewide paid family leave program and the establishment of a
free tuition program for some public college students.
“Gov. Cuomo has delivered more real progressive wins than any other Democrat in the country,” the spokesman said.
The governor has suggested that he believes Mayor de Blasio, Nixon’s friend and frequent Cuomo foe, is behind her run.
He also mocked Nixon as a B-level celebrity, saying he’d be more worried if it were Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie or Billy Joel running against him.
Nixon had been working with two of the mayor’s former political consultants as she decided whether to enter the race.
She is also married to Christine Marinoni, with whom she has two children — and who until last week worked for the city Education Department.
De Blasio insisted he’s not behind her candidacy, and claimed he had no advance warning of her announcement.
“I found out the same you did — from the media today,” he said in an interview on NY1. He said he hadn’t spoken with Nixon in a month, and “I did not know which way she was going to go with her decision.” “I’m not involved,” he said. Nixon had been urged to challenge Cuomo by progressive Democrats who remain unhappy with the governor.
“Cynthia’s candidacy gives Democrats a strong progressive alternative to the incumbent, Andrew Cuomo, a centrist and Albany insider,” according to the release announcing her run.
“Cuomo’s time in office has been defined by a string of indictments (of aides and associates) for corruption, his failure to fix the New York City subway, and his support for a backroom deal which handed Republicans control of the state Senate, resulting in the failure of numerous pieces of progressive legislation.”
On her newly launched campaign website, Nixon vowed not to accept any corporate donations as she goes up against a governor with more than $30 million in his campaign war chest.
“Cynthia hasn’t been bought and paid for by special interests and won’t be accepting any corporate contributions in this campaign,” she said. “Instead, our campaign will be powered by the people.”
But her campaign page says she will accept donations up to the maximum individual limit of $65,100 from individuals, limited liability companies, unions and political action committees.
Cuomo faced a surprisingly competitive primary four years ago by little-known and underfunded Fordham Law Prof. Zephyr Teachout, who garnered 34% of the vote. Teachout is listed as Nixon’s campaign treasurer.
Nixon has access to money and star status. But she starts the race well behind Cuomo in donations, name recognition and widespread party institutional support.
Cuomo is ahead of Nixon by 66% to 19% among New York Democrats, according to a Siena College poll released hours before her announcement.
Despite being a longtime actress and activist, Nixon “is far from a household name in New York,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.
Cuomo has already been endorsed by several labor unions, the Human Rights Campaign, a leading national LGBT advocacy group, and even musician Elton John.
Republicans celebrated Nixon getting into the race, saying it could help their cause by damaging Cuomo — especially if she also gets the progressive Working Families line — and forcing him to spend heavily from his hefty campaign account.
Though this would be Nixon’s first run for office, she cited her experience as a longtime activist on behalf of public schools and gay rights.
Her campaign video, which includes shots of Nixon at her home and around New York City, ends with her on a train. A conductor is heard saying, “Next stop, Albany.”