# Cynthia Nixon running against Andrew Cuomo from the left **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 19, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844 "2018-03-19T20:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/1 "2018-03-19T20:13:58Z")
“Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon has officially announced she is running against Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New York. Does she have a chance? > **["Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon running for NY governor against...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sex-and-the-city-actress-cynthia-nixon-running-for-ny-governor-against-andrew-cuomo/)** > > The actress and progressive activist is a friend and ally of Cuomo's Democratic rival, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/2 "2018-03-19T20:56:10Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon has officially announced she is running against Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New York. Does she have a chance? > ["Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon running for NY governor against Andrew Cuomo - CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sex-and-the-city-actress-cynthia-nixon-running-for-ny-governor-against-andrew-cuomo/) I doubt it. The two big parties are very firmly in control of New York politics. Outsiders face a major uphill fight to even get on the ballot. So if you want to challenge a person like Cuomo in New York, you don’t go to the voters. You work on Democratic Party leaders throughout the state and essentially try to stage a coup against him. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/3 "2018-03-19T21:03:19Z")
reminds me of a joke - they asked the hooker who slept with Spitzer why she slept with him. Her answer: “because the governor of NJ is gay” ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/4 "2018-03-19T22:31:58Z")
I doubt I’ll vote for her, even though I might agree with her on a lot of subjects. I’ve gone a little sour on celebrities starting at the top. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/5 "2018-03-19T22:42:32Z")
Running a primary campaign against an incumbent with solid approval ratings is usually a long shot. It’s even harder when it’s your first campaign and you have no relevant experience. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/6 "2018-03-19T22:58:10Z")
Glad _someone_ is challenging Cuomo. He’s Dan Lipinski in a more prestigious and important job. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/7 "2018-03-20T00:23:48Z")
seems like TV and movie people have been doing pretty well running for office lately without any prior relevant experience. 🙂 ``` The only one I can think of who lost was Clay Aiken and I'm in the district he ran in. I'm sure there are others who lost that I don't recall. ``` ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/8 "2018-03-20T02:00:13Z")
I like Cynthia Nixon, but coming in as governor is a silly way to start a political career. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/9 "2018-03-20T02:21:48Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Glad _someone_ is challenging Cuomo. He’s Dan Lipinski in a more prestigious and important job. Wow. That was a very specific and parochial reference I was not expecting. Is Dan Lipinski known beyond Chicagoland, or even southwest Chicagoland? We ran into him and his wife at a church fish fry two weeks ago. (More like my daughters literally ran into his wife at the fish fry, but same difference.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/10 "2018-03-20T07:03:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wow. That was a very specific and parochial reference I was not expecting. Is Dan Lipinski known beyond Chicagoland, or even southwest Chicagoland? We ran into him and his wife at a church fish fry two weeks ago. (More like my daughters literally ran into his wife at the fish fry, but same difference.) Oh, hell yes. He’s pretty much the poster child for ‘needlessly and ridiculously conservative Dem in a safe Dem district.’ A number of high-profile Dems have endorsed Marie Newman in today’s primary. Lipinski’s even pulled a page from Lieberman’s book and is [asking Republicans to vote in the Dem primary](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/03/17/democrat-rep-lipinski-marie-newman-progressives/434103002/) to rescue his sorry ass. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/11 "2018-03-20T13:51:55Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Oh, hell yes. He’s pretty much the poster child for ‘needlessly and ridiculously conservative Dem in a safe Dem district.’ A number of high-profile Dems have endorsed Marie Newman in today’s primary. Lipinski’s even pulled a page from Lieberman’s book and is [asking Republicans to vote in the Dem primary](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/03/17/democrat-rep-lipinski-marie-newman-progressives/434103002/) to rescue his sorry ass. That doesn’t sound like Andrew Cuomo at all. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/12 "2018-03-20T14:23:42Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Oh, hell yes. He’s pretty much the poster child for ‘needlessly and ridiculously conservative Dem in a safe Dem district.’ A number of high-profile Dems have endorsed Marie Newman in today’s primary. Lipinski’s even pulled a page from Lieberman’s book and is [asking Republicans to vote in the Dem primary](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/03/17/democrat-rep-lipinski-marie-newman-progressives/434103002/) to rescue his sorry ass. My impression of him is that he would be a moderate (as in, not nutso) Republican were running as a Republican at all viable in his district. That said, his politics do seem to reflect the electorate around here. I’m actually just barely outside his district (it starts literally a block from my house), but the area he represents is on the conservative side, but historically Democratic because, well, that’s what you were if you lived in Chicago. Many of those people have, actually, switched parties by now in national elections. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/13 "2018-03-20T15:55:10Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Glad _someone_ is challenging Cuomo. He’s Dan Lipinski in a more prestigious and important job. I’ve lived in New York for 3 years. In that time, and off the top of my head, he’s signed into law free college education, expanded parental leave, is strongly opposed to the Indian Point nuclear power plant, and wants 50% of NY’s electrical power generation from renewable by 2030. I’m pretty sure he signed a bill to enact same-sex marriage. Looking at Lipinski’s wiki page, I don’t see the comparison. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cynthia-nixon-running-against-andrew-cuomo-from-the-left/810844/14 "2018-03-20T16:44:56Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > That doesn’t sound like Andrew Cuomo at all. He’s been in no hurry to do anything about the [Independent Democratic Coalition](https://newrepublic.com/article/142670/andrew-cuomo-profits-republican-senate), members of the NY Senate who run as Dems but caucus with the GOP, handing control of the NY Senate to the minority GOP. > [@](#): > > The Republican Party in New York is in disarray—registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by two to one—so its main function in the Senate leadership is to block legislation, unless that legislation benefits special interests, particularly the state’s powerful real estate lobby. Republicans are empowered to keep any progressive legislation from going to a vote, which they do repeatedly. IDC members, meanwhile, are rewarded with both influence and thousands of extra dollars in compensation, as The New York Times reported on Wednesday.