Democrat declares candidacy with a bold, progressive message drawing sharp contrast with centrist Andrew Cuomo, whose administration has been mired in corruption
Actor, activist, and lifelong New Yorker Cynthia Nixon announced her campaign for governor of New York today, releasing a video in which she signals a challenge to business as usual in Albany and a vision of a New York that works for the many, not just the few.
“I love New York. I’ve never lived anywhere else,” says Nixon in the video, which shows Cynthia starting her day at home with her wife Christine and son Charlie, and walking her son Max to school. “But something has to change. We want our government to work again, on healthcare, ending mass incarceration, fixing our broken subway. We are sick of politicians who care more about headlines and power than they do about us. It can’t just be business as usual anymore.”
Cynthia’s candidacy gives Democrats a strong progressive alternative to the incumbent, Andrew Cuomo, a centrist and Albany insider. Cuomo’s time in office has been defined by a string of indictments 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.
For the last 17 years, Cynthia has been fighting for better schools and more equitable education funding all across the state, including as a spokesperson and organizer for the Alliance for Quality Education. An outspoken advocate for LGBTQ equality, Cynthia helped create Fight Back New York, an effort to remove state Senators opposed to marriage equality. The campaign ultimately raised $800,000 and helped elect three new votes to legalize same-sex marriage. Cynthia is also a longtime advocate for women’s reproductive rights, and has worked with Planned Parenthood in Albany to advocate for the full Women’s Equality Agenda.
Cynthia Nixon grew up in New York City, where she was raised by her single mother in a one bedroom, fifth-floor walk-up apartment. She began working as an actor when she was 12 years old to earn money to pay for her college education, and she was able to put herself through Barnard College at Columbia University.
Cynthia attended New York City public schools, and her three children are all New York City public school students or graduates. Unlike Andrew Cuomo, Cynthia rides the subway nearly every day, and understands the toll that his disastrous mismanagement of the MTA is taking on New Yorkers.
The bold, progressive tone of Cynthia’s announcement already stands in stark contrast to her opponent, Andrew Cuomo, who is seeking a third term. Over the past seven years of Cuomo’s tenure, New York has become the single most unequal state in the country, with power readily handed over to Republicans in Albany. Millionaires and billionaires have seen massive tax cut windfalls and handouts that loot the state budget, taking vital resources from New York’s children, seniors, and economically disadvantaged. Cynthia, on the other hand, is refusing to take a dime of corporate money.
In the coming weeks, Cynthia will travel across the state to hear from voters about how we can make New York state better, together.
Nixon would be the first woman elected to New York’s highest office, and its first LGBTQ governor as well. For more information about Cynthia Nixon and her historic campaign, visit www.CynthiaforNewYork.com.
Watch Cynthia’s announcement video at: https://youtu.be/SiOo4C2CiRQ
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