Cynthia Nixon Announced New York State Governor Run With Zero Experience, Not Even School Board

Cynthia Nixon and Christine Quinn. Photo: Getty Images

After the epic problems associated with Donald Trump, I don't know if an activist with no experience serving in office is qualified to be governor of New York. But Cynthia Nixon of 'Sex and the City' fame is undaunted, announcing on Monday that she's running for New York governor, declaring herself as a progressive alternative to incumbent governor Andrew Cuomo. 

On Tuesday, former Manhattan City Council speaker and one-time mayoral candidate Christine Quinn slammed Nixon as an "unqualified lesbian." Ouch!

“Cynthia Nixon was opposed to having a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City,” Quinn told the New York Post. “Now she wants to be an unqualified lesbian to be the governor of New York. You have to be qualified and have experience. She isn’t qualified to be the governor.” (Quinn is a lesbian and Nixon is bisexual and currently married to a woman.)

The comment was generally perceived as payback for Nixon choosing to back current New York mayor Bill de Blasio when Quinn was leading de Blasio in the polls. Quinn lost the election and in 2015, she was hired by Cuomo as a special adviser. Note that Cuomo and de Blasio have a particularly difficult relationship. 

Quinn attempted to soften her words on Tuesday afternoon, tweeting that she would “never, EVER [sic] criticize someone because of their identity.", adding that Nixon “aggressively opposed my candidacy in New York despite my qualifications for the office and despite my strong progressive credentials," writes New York Magazine. 

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, whose PAC has raised $6.5 million to help women running for office across the country endorsed Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday. 

"Kirsten is a friend of Governor Cuomo's and supports his campaign," Gillibrand spokesman Glen Caplin told the Daily News. "He's been a leader on issues she cares deeply about like marriage equality, paid family leave and campus sexual assault to name a few.

Gillibrand is also running for re-election to her second full six-year term in November.

Related: I'm not with her: Cynthia Nixon's NY governor campaign is a farce Salon

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