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Cynthia Nixon Concedes NY Gubernatorial Primary Bid to Andrew Cuomo

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Andrew Cuomo defeated Cynthia Nixon in New York’s Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday.

The NYT reports: “Mr. Cuomo had marshaled the support of nearly all of the state and country’s most powerful Democratic brokers — elected officials, party leaders, labor unions and wealthy real estate interests — to defeat Ms. Nixon, beating her by 30 percentage points. The race cemented both Mr. Cuomo’s standing as an unmatched force in New York politics and a merciless tactician with little regard for diplomacy.”

Nixon laid out her thanks and a concession speech in a lengthy series of tweets: “While the result tonight wasn’t what we had hoped for, I’m not discouraged. I’m inspired. I hope you are too. We have fundamentally changed the political landscape in this state. This isn’t just a symbolic victory. This campaign forced the Governor to make concrete commitments that will change the lives of people across this state. For 7.5 years, the Governor said he had no power to disband the IDC, the group of breakaway corporate Democrats who handed the State Senate to the Republicans. Then, 2 weeks into our campaign, he miraculously disbanded them. Last year, the Governor opposed recreational marijuana. We came out strongly in favor of legalizing it as a matter of racial justice, and the next day, the Governor declared that “the facts on marijuana have changed.” We made the crisis in the subway a cornerstone of our campaign. Now, everyone in New York understands that the Governor controls the subway, and it’s the Governor’s responsibility to fix it.”

She added: “On the same day that we released our climate justice plan in the Rockaways, the Governor reversed himself and halted the construction of a pipeline that would’ve devastated that community’s water and health.  Banning plastic bags. Untying teacher evaluations from test scores. Increasing funding for NYCHA. Protecting Seneca Lake. Restoring voting rights to felons on parole. The list goes on and on.  As progressives and New Yorkers, we have to hold the governor accountable for the commitments he’s made over the last 6 months. But these are real victories. Some people have called this . I call it what happens when we hold our leaders accountable.”

She later added: “This campaign changed expectations about what’s possible in New York State. We moved issues of racial and economic justice to the forefront. We shined a light on inequality, and turned the media’s attention to forgotten communities across this state. We reached out to voters who’d never been talked to, and on issues they’d never heard addressed by any candidate. We expanded the electorate by bringing new voters and younger voters into the process — and we did it all without accepting a dime of corporate money. This is more than just a campaign – this is a movement. The movement we’re building isn’t just about one candidate, or one election. It’s about offering a vision of the way things COULD work, if only we have the leadership and the political courage to make it a reality. Before we can take our country back, we have to take our party back. I’m fed up with a Democratic establishment that warns candidates not to run on single-payer health care; that tells us to stop talking about abolishing ICE because it doesn’t poll well. If Democrats are going to win in November, we have to stand for something. It’s not enough to just be better than . We have to give people something to show up and vote FOR.”

And went on to talk about the future: “That’s why I’m so inspired by the new generation of Democratic leaders running for office this year with a bold, progressive vision of what is possible – candidates like Ayanna Pressley, Stacey Abrams, Andrew Gillum, Ben Jealous, and our own Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. This is an incredible moment for progressives, but it’s not just a moment — it’s a movement, and this movement is only growing stronger. Our numbers show that the younger you are, the more likely it is that you voted for me today. I’m particularly proud of that fact, and it gives me so much hope for the future of our party and our country. The generation coming of age in Obama and Trump’s America is one of the most progressive generations in history. You are going to change America — and for the first time in our history create a nation that finally belongs to all of us. I see the future of the Democratic Party in this room tonight. The future of the Democratic Party is young, it is diverse, it is progressive; and yes, the future is female.”

And she addressed queer and nonbinary people: “To all the young people. To all the young women. To all the young queer people who reject the gender binary. Soon you’ll be standing here, and when it’s your turn, you’ll win. You are on the right side of history, and every day, your country is moving in your direction. But we can’t afford to wait. This is not a time to settle for the way things are, or sit back and hope for things to change. This is a time to fight. As long as New York remains the single most unequal state in the country, we will keep fighting. As long as we have one education system that sends wealthy children to college, and another that sends the poor and children of color to prison, we will keep fighting. We know that New York can become the first state in the country to enact single-payer health care. We know that we can fix our broken subway — and frankly, we don’t have a choice. If the subway dies, so does the City of New York, and we won’t let that happen.

Concluded Nixon: “We can legalize marijuana, and finally stop putting people of color in jail for something that white people do with impunity. We can abolish cash bail. We can dismantle mass incarceration. We can demand police accountability. We can invest in schools, not jails. And when we say black lives matter, we need to mean it. For Kalief Browder. And for all the Kaliefs whose names we do not know. We have to confront the reality of systemic racism — not only in our justice system, but in our schools, in our housing, in healthcare, and in economic opportunity. We can protect families from deportation, make rent more affordable, and commit to 100% renewable energy. We can make all of these things a reality — but only if we keep fighting for a New York that belongs to all of us, not just to the wealthy few. Thank you all for believing and fighting and leaving it all on the field. We started something here in New York, and it doesn’t end today. This is just the beginning. And I know that together, we will win this fight.”