Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon is officially running for Governor of New York
(Twitter/cynthianixon)
Cynthia Nixon has launched her candidacy to be the next Governor of New York.
If elected, the former Sex and the City star would be the state’s first-ever out Governor, and the first woman to serve in the role.
After months of considering a primary challenge to Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, she consulted with strategists Bill Hyers and Rebecca Katz earlier this month.
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And now she has announced she’s officially running, launching her candidacy with a powerful campaign video.
Nixon, an Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winner most famous for her role as Miranda Hobbes, has long opposed Cuomo’s policies, and has been especially vocal over the past year.
In the video, she says that “New York is my home, I’ve never lived anywhere else.
“When I grew up here, it was just my mum and me in a one-bedroom, fifth-floor walk-up.
Cynthia Nixon at the Tony Awards (Getty Images)
“New York is where I was raised and where I’m raising my kids. I’m a proud public school graduate and a prouder public school parent.
“I was given chances I just don’t see for most of New York’s kids today,” Nixon continues.
“Our leaders are letting us down. We are now the most unequal state in the entire country, with both incredible wealth and extreme poverty.
“Half the kids in our upstate cities live below the poverty line. How did we let this happen?” she asks.
“I love New York. I’ve 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.
“We are sick of politicians who care more about headlines and power than they do about us,” she adds.
(Instagram/cynthiaenixon)
Viewers can then hear a speech by Nixon at the Human Rights Campaign, in which she tells the audience: “It can’t just be business as usual anymore.
“If we’re gonna get at the root problem of inequity, we have to turn the system upside-down.
“We have to go out ourselves and seize it. This is a time to stick our necks out, to remember where we came from.
“This is a time to be visible. This is a time to fight,” she adds, powerfully.
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 28: Actress Cynthia Nixon joins protestors rallying against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
She ends by telling the audience that “together, we can win this fight.”
Earlier this year, while picking up a Visibility Award at the Human Rights Campaign’s New York Gala, she gave an impassioned speech attacking wealth inequality and “corporate Democrats”.
During her appearance on The View last year, she accused the Governor – who is seeking a third term in office – of “shortchanging the children of New York.”
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The 51-year-old actress is also an outspoken critic of President Trump.
She has blasted Mike Pence as the “poster boy for anti-LGBT rhetoric, legislation and conversion therapy”, calling on LGBT people to reject his agenda.
Speaking at a rally days after Trump was inaugurated, she said: “As LGBT people, we know how important coming out is, but I would argue that our coming out has never been more important than it is right now.
(Twitter/cynthianixon)
“We need to come out not just as queer, but as people who know all too well what it feels like to be put in a box that says ‘other,’ less than,’ ‘easy target if you’re looking for someone to bully, harass, discriminate against, demonise, beat up, even kill.”
And in January, the actress wrote on Twitter: “Taking our country back is going to require all of us to step up and take action – including more women, people of colour, queer people, and first-generation Americans running for office.”
Watch Nixon’s powerful video here:
I love New York, and today I’m announcing my candidacy for governor. Join us: https://t.co/9DwsxWW8xX pic.twitter.com/kYTvx6GZiD
— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) March 19, 2018
