Cynthia Nixon: My campaign aligns ‘with democratic socialist principles’

New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon (D) said Tuesday that she considers herself a democratic socialist, similar to insurgent New York Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Nixon, the former “Sex and the City” star now running against Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in the state’s Democratic primary, told Politico that her stances on policy issues largely align with those of Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

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“Some more establishment, corporate Democrats get very scared by this term but if being a democratic socialist means that you believe health care, housing, education and the things we need to thrive should be a basic right, not a privilege, then count me in,” Nixon said.

“As Martin Luther King [Jr.] put it, call it democracy or call it democratic socialism but we have to have a better distribution of wealth in this country,” she continued.

“I have long stood in support of a millionaires’ tax, Medicare for all, fully funding our public schools, housing for all and rejecting all corporation donations — all of which align with democratic socialist principles.”

In her comments to Politico, Nixon also challenged Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.), whom Ocasio-Cortez defeated in a primary last month, as well as House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Pelosi had argued in the days after Crowley’s surprise defeat that Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign was not a sign of growing support for socialist policies in the Democratic Party.

“I think Nancy Pelosi is dead wrong, I think that is exactly what is happening,” Nixon argued. 

“I think that of course wealthy people and big corporations have always had an outsized influence on American politics and world politics, but at this moment, when you look at what the agendas of corporations are and you look at governmental policies, there is almost no daylight between them,” she added.

A request for comment from The Hill to Cuomo’s 2018 campaign team was not immediately answered.

A spokesman for the Erie County Democratic Party defended Cuomo’s record against Nixon’s in a statement to Politico.

“I don’t want to get caught up in the labeling between socialist or capitalist,” Chairman Jeremy Zellner told the news outlet. “I think the governor has done a very good job of being a progressive and tackling the inequality that’s out there with the minimum wage increase and his other actions.”