Cynthia Nixon Is Going After NY Governor Cuomo From the Left

Actress and activist Cynthia Nixon announced Monday that she will challenge incumbent governor Andrew Cuomo in this year’s New York Democratic primary. Nixon has never run for public office, but is well-known for her role in the HBO series “Sex and the City.”
Nixon makes clear on her campaign website that she will be attacking Cuomo from the left, highlighting his administration’s corruption and his failure to address infrastructure problems, such as the MTA, which she is dubbing #CuomosMTA.
“If Washington is a swamp, Albany is a cesspool,” Nixon said at her first campaign event in Brooklyn on Tuesday. “Andrew Cuomo promised to clean up Albany but instead he and his cronies have cleaned up for themselves.”

Nixon has so far cast herself as a champion of the working class in New York state. She has wasted no time railing Cuomo on his dependency on big donors for campaign contributions. The current governor has already raised $30 million in campaign funds, but only 0.1 percent of his funds came from small donations. “So if you’re a regular person in New York, the chance that Andrew Cuomo is going to care about your concerns is exactly that — .1 percent,” Nixon argued at Tuesday’s campaign event.
Nixon quickly drew support from former Cuomo challenger Zephyr Teachout, who said in a fundraising email on Monday evening, “As I’ve gotten to know Cynthia, I have become convinced she is the right person to unseat Andrew Cuomo, eradicate the corporate corruption in Albany, and make New York a great place for all New Yorkers.”
The Democratic primary election takes place on September 13 in New York.
Nixon would be the first woman, and the first openly gay person, to win the governor’s seat in New York.