Cynthia Nixon is having the Bernie Sanders effect on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
As Sanders did to Hillary Clinton, Nixon’s primary challenge is already nudging the governor leftward. Nudging, in fact, may actually be an understatement.
On Wednesday, Cuomo announced he would use an executive order to grant voting rights to all parolees in the state of New York, adding to the list of moves he’s made recently shoring up his progressive bona fides. This is a major progressive priority.
An extensive New York magazine profile of Nixon published this week noted that Cuomo “has already moved to the left,” citing the quick reconciliation he brokered between what the “warring factions” of Democratic state senators after Nixon had been discussing the matter in media appearances. An op-ed published in Crain’s on Tuesday called Cuomo’s newfound support for tightening rent regulations as “the latest in what can be only described as a scorched-earth campaign to marginalize Cynthia Nixon’s challenge in the Democratic primary by co-opting any and all progressive policies she intends to run on.”
“Cuomo is also rushing to bolster his left flank,” Alex Shephard wrote in The New Republic earlier this month, listing several moves made by the governor in the wake of Nixon’s campaign launch:
Nixon, for her part, seems to be narrowing the wide gap between herself and Cuomo in recent polling. A survey released Tuesday found Democrats supported Cuomo by a margin of 58 percent to 27 percent, down from 66 percent to 19 percent in March, before the “Sex and the City” star formally declared her bid. That’s still a steep hill to climb. Nixon also managed to secure the Working Family Party’s endorsement over the weekend, giving her candidacy a major jolt.
But here’s the key: even in the likely case that Nixon loses the Democratic primary, progressives may still win, having scared Cuomo into governing from the Left from now until Election Day. If Cuomo decides to run for president in 2020, that could come back to haunt him depending on how the race unfolds — either in favor of progressives (the more likely scenario) or centrists that can compete in Trump Country.
