Cynthia Nixon hopes that Andrew Cuomo’s career is finally over

Seven years after losing to then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 31 percentage points in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, actor and activist Cynthia Nixon got to indulge in a bit of schadenfreude on Tuesday night. Nixon attended mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s election night party at a rooftop bar in Long Island City and watched as the election results rolled in and showed Mamdani unexpectedly blowing out Cuomo by 7 points in the first round of ranked choice voting, most likely clinching the Democratic mayoral nomination.

Mamdani’s victory in the November general election isn’t assured; he still has to beat incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent; Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa; independent candidate Jim Walden; and potentially even Cuomo (again), who is considering whether to continue running as an independent. Everyone at Mamdani’s watch party was well-aware of the cautionary tale of India Walton – a democratic socialist who won the Democratic nomination for Buffalo mayor in 2021 only to lose the general election to incumbent Mayor Byron Brown, who mounted a successful write-in campaign backed by Buffalo business interests.

But the mood was still jubilant in the wake of Mamdani’s remarkable upset victory. Shortly after Cuomo conceded to Mamdani, City & State caught up with Nixon to discuss what Mamdani’s victory means for the socialist movement in New York and whether it is now time to write Cuomo’s political obituary.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How does it feel to watch the former governor go down?

Well, very satisfying for tonight, but I worry about what he has planned in store for the fall.

Are you concerned we could see a situation similar to what happened in Buffalo with India Walton?

I do, but I think that as devastating as that was, what happened to India, I think that would be a lot harder to pull off here.

Why?

Because Zohran is a more experienced politician and he has such a broad base of volunteers and people really excited about this.

Were you surprised to see these results?

No.

You always expected him to win by this much?

I did not expect it, but I was very hopeful. You just watch the polls creep up, you know, Zohran started at like 1%. You just watch the tenacity and brilliance of the campaign, and he just peaked at exactly the right time.

At a time when Democrats are unsure how to respond to President Donald Trump, do you think that Mamdani shows a path forward for Democrats?

Yes, I think he provides a great template. It’s not enough to say, “Vote for me, I’m a Democrat. Vote for me, I’m not Donald Trump.” You actually have to offer people substantive policy.

What do you think about the controversies that have dogged his campaign, such as accusations of antisemitism?

It’s nonsense. It’s what the Republicans always do when they’re trying to fight us about the left wing of our party.

What do you think this means for the socialist movement in New York?

I think the socialist movement has been gaining traction for a lot of years now, starting in the year that I ran, in 2018, and I think that our economic system is so broken that it needs socialists to actually fix it.

Do you think Andrew Cuomo’s career is now over?

I certainly hope so.