Cynthia Nixon's Gubernatorial Campaign

Submission 3,541

Overview

Cynthia Nixon’s Gubernatorial Campaign refers to the American actress and activist's electoral bid for the position of Governor of New York State. The announcement of her candidacy in the upcoming gubernatorial election was quickly met with excitement from the progressive Democrats in New York City, as well as inspiring a series of jokes comparing Nixon's political aspirations to the persona of Miranda Hobbes, the fictional character portrayed by Nixon in the American romantic comedy TV series Sex and the City.

Background

Rumors of Cynthia Nixon's campaign began circulating in August of 2017. On August 3rd, 2017, The Wall Street Journal^[1] reported that associates of Nixon were saying the actress was mulling a campaign for governor of New York. On March 19th, 2018, Nixon officially announced that she was running for governor. That day, she released a campaign ad on YouTube which gained over 72,000 views in one day (shown below). She also posted the ad on Twitter where it gained over 2 million views.^[2] She will be running as a Democrat and challenging incumbent Andrew Cuomo from the political left and states in her ad her concerns include health care reform, mass incarceration, wealth inequality, and the "broken" New York City subway system. She would be the state's first openly bisexual governor.

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Developments

Following her official campaign announcement, Nixon received endorsements from notable left-wing New Yorkers, including Rosie O'Donnell^[3] (shown below, left) and journalist Shaun King (shown below, right).^[4]

Andrew Cuomo responded to the announcement by touting his own accomplishments and celebrating democracy.^[5] Prior to the announcement, Cuomo told reporters of Nixon's potential run, "Normally name recognition is relevant when it has some connection to the endeavor, but if it’s just about name recognition, then I’m hoping that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and Billy Joel don’t get into the race because if it’s just about name recognition, that would really be a problem."^[6] Former City Council member Christine Quinn and Cuomo supporter generated headlines by brushing off Nixon as an "unqualified lesbian" (Nixon is bisexual).^[7]

Sex and the City Jokes

One of the most common reactions to Nixon's campaign involved bringing up her role in Sex and the City in regards to her campaign. Prior to her official announcement, Conan O'Brien ran a spoof of an attack ad which compiled clips of her from the television show (shown below).

After the announcement, several people joked on Twitter by making Sex and the City jokes. For example, a joke by Charlotte Clymer gained over 2,800 retweets and 10,000 likes (shown below, left). Another joke by Alanna Bennet gained over 120 retweets and 870 likes (shown below, right).

Subway Platform Exploitable

On August 3rd, 2018, Nixon^[1] posted to Twitter an image of herself pointing to a New York City subway countdown clock with the text altered to read "1. Tax the rich. 2. Fix the Subway." The tweet gained 240 retweets and 970 likes (shown below).

After Nixon posted the image, other Twitter users began turning it into an exploitable. Twitter user @nicolewboyce posted a joke parodying the Ciara song "1,2 Step," gaining 240 retweets and 1,600 likes (shown below, left). User @4evrmalone posted lyrics to Dua Lipa's "New Rules," gaining over 80 retweets and 560 likes (shown below, right). The meme was covered by Daily Dot^[8] and The Independent.^[9]