Домой United States USA — Political Cynthia Nixon officially announces she will challenge Gov. Cuomo in Democratic primary

Cynthia Nixon officially announces she will challenge Gov. Cuomo in Democratic primary

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Actress Cynthia Nixon on Monday made it official — she is challenging Gov. Cuomo in this year’s Democratic primary.
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 than two minute video.
«I love New York,” the “Sex And the City” star said. “I never wanted to live anywhere else. But something has to change.
“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.”
Nixon, 51, spoke in her video of growing up with her mother in a one-bedroom fifth floor walk-up and about being a “proud” public school graduate and parent of public school kids.
“I was given chances I just don’t see for most of New York’s kids today,” she said. “Our leaders are letting us down. We are now the most unequal state in the entire country, with both incredible wealth and extreme poverty.”
Cuomo’s camp had no immediate comment on Nixon entering the race. But last week the governor suggested he believed Mayor de Blasio, her friend and frequent Cuomo foe, was behind it.
He also mocked her 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.
Nixon has been urged to challenge Cuomo by those in the progressive wing of the Democratic party who remain unhappy with Cuomo.
“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,” the release says.
Nixon on her website vowed not to accept any corporate donations as she goes up against a governor with more than $30 million in his campaign warchest.
“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 starts this year’s race not only with a money disadvantage, but a name-recognition one as well.
Cuomo is up on Nixon by 66% to 19% among New York Democrats, according to a Siena College poll released Monday morning, hours before her announcement.
The governor has commanding leads among self-described liberals in Democrat-heavy New York City and in the suburbs and upstate, the poll found.
Despite being a longtime actress and activist, Nixon «is far from a household name in New York,» Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.
Among Democrats, 26% have a positive view of Nixon and 16% an unfavorable one. The rest had no opinion.
«While Nixon does a little better among younger and upstate Democrats, she doesn’t have the support of more than one-quarter of either group,» Greenberg said.
But while Cuomo starts off far ahead, there are some warning signs in his own poll numbers.
Just 48% of New Yorkers say they are prepared to reelect him while 46% say they would prefer someone else as governor.
And his job approval rating dipped for a second straight month. Just 42% now say he’s doing an excellent or good job while 57% say he’s doing a fair or poor job, the poll found.
As word surfaced recently that Nixon was “poised” to run, Cuomo has sought to play up his progressive credentials, including passage of the tough SAFE Act gun control law, the legalization of same sex marriage, imposition of a $15 hourly minimum wage, creation of a statewide paid family leave program, and enactment of a free tuition program for some public college students.
He’s already been endorsed by several labor unions, the Human Rights Campaign, a leading national LGBTQ advocacy group, and even musician Elton John.
Though this would be Nixon’s first run for office, Nixon cited her experience as a long-time activist on behalf of public schools and gay rights.
Her new 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 is Albany.”

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