Cynthia is qualified to cash in on Quinn

Seeking to spin a personal attack into political gold, Cynthia Nixon asked her supporters Wednesday for contributions to repudiate a slam against her by a top ally of Gov. Cuomo as an “unqualified lesbian.”

The digital fundraising blitz by Nixon campaign manager Nicole Aro refers to “gutterpolitics” comments by former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in Tuesday’s Post.

“Now, none of us are surprised,” Aro wrote. “They are obviously quite worried over there.”

Quinn, the openly gay vice chair of the state Democratic Party and Cuomo supporter, de- nounced Nixon, a lesbian, for endorsing Bill de Blasio over her in the 2013 Democratic primary for mayor.

“I’m surprised by this race. It’s a flight of fancy on her part,” Quinn said of Nixon’s an- nouncement that she would run against Cuomo in September’s Democratic primary.

“Cynthia Nixon was opposed to having a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City. Now she wants an unqualified lesbian to be the governor of New York,” Quinn said Tuesday before apologizing.

Cuomo downplayed Nixon’s candidacy Wednesday, saying, “We’re in the political silly season now.”

Nixon laughed off Quinn’s jab and mined it for comedy.

“When I announced yesterday that I’m running for governor, one of Cuomo’s top surrogates dismissed me as an unqualified lesbian,” Nixon deadpanned to supporters during a campaign party at the Stonewall Inn.

“I just want to say tonight that she was technically right, that I don’t have my certificate from the Department of Lesbian Affairs — though in my defense, there’s a lot of paperwork required.”

Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn denies she meant her barb at Cynthia Nixon on Tuesday as an attack on the new gubernatorial candidate’s sexual identity. But then, why did she bring it up?

“Nixon was opposed to having a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City. Now she wants an unqualified lesbian to be the governor,” quipped Quinn to The Post, plainly still smarting from her own failed 2013 mayoral bid.

Behind the scenes, Quinn was obviously doing the hit on behalf of her ally, Gov. Cuomo — who surely wanted the “unqualified” point hit hard, with the “lesbian” bit left unspoken.

He’d already ordered up endorsements from as much of New York’s gay establishment as he could beg, borrow or buy, out of over-the-top fears of winding up on the wrong side of this major identity-politics divide.

But Quinn-Cuomo bungled it, coming off as bullies. Nor did the ex-speaker’s walkbacks (like a tweet that Nixon’s “identity has no bearing on her candidacy, and it was not my intention to suggest it did”) erase the divisive goonishness.

A goonishness that’s been an Andrew Cuomo trademark going all the way back to his rumored role in deploying the “vote for Cuomo, not the homo” line when his father was running against Ed Koch.

Now, Nixon’s lack of political experience is fair game (though she has been active in lefty causes: gay rights, Planned Parenthood, etc.) Indeed, since Cuomo doesn’t dare go after her as too left-wing (indeed, he’s surely going to move further left himself to beat her back), it’s practically the only charge his camp can make. Nixon, for her part, would be wise to go

less ideological, and slam the gov over his neglect of the subways and, above all else, his gaping vulnerability when it comes to corruption.

That was the issue that unknown law professor Zephyr Teachout worked to pull 33 percent of the vote (the best on record in a primary against a sitting gov) in 2014, and it’s even more relevant now.

It also leaves Cuomo and his establishment allies with nothing to say.