--- title: What You Need to Know About Cynthia Nixon and Politics description: Here's a brief history of Cynthia Nixon politics: Where the actress who played Miranda Hobbes in "Sex and the City" stands on the issues. canonical: https://time.com/5206095/cynthia-nixon-politics/ author: Sarah Gray article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-19T23:11:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T21:08:57.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's What You Need to Know About Cynthia Nixon and Political Issues og:description: The "Sex and the City" actress has been an advocate for public education, LGBT rights, and women's health care. og:url: https://time.com/5206095/cynthia-nixon-politics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ef3486da246f44d/69892b458fd2eec83635b114/cynthia-nixon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Celebrity Sightings in New York City - November;27, 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What You Need to Know About Cynthia Nixon and Political Issues twitter:description: The "Sex and the City" actress has been an advocate for public education, LGBT rights, and women's health care. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ef3486da246f44d/69892b458fd2eec83635b114/cynthia-nixon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What You Need to Know About Cynthia Nixon's History of Political Activism > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Cynthia Nixon for Governor - Political Ad [Watch (HLS stream): Cynthia Nixon for Governor - Political Ad](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kIWyYdCK.m3u8) (2:06)  _Published 2018-03-19. Cynthia Nixon for Governor_ by [Sarah Gray](https://time.com/author/sarah-gray/) ## Sarah Gray Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:08 PM UTCPublished: Mar 19, 2018 11:11 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Actress Cynthia Nixon is seen Downtown on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images) NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 27: Actress Cynthia Nixon is seen Downtown on November 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images) Raymond Hall—GC Images by [Sarah Gray](https://time.com/author/sarah-gray/) ## Sarah Gray Updated: Dec 12, 2023 9:08 PM UTCPublished: Mar 19, 2018 11:11 PM UTC Cynthia Nixon, an activist and actress best known for her role as [Miranda Hobbes](https://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/miranda-hobbes-is-actually-the-best-character-on-sex-and-the?utm%5Fterm=.kmzQq11VQ#.gw22yaaJ2) in HBO’s _Sex in the City_, announced on Monday that she is running for governor of New York. She’ll be challenging incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is seeking his third term, in the Democratic primary. The [_New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/nyregion/cynthia-nixon-new-york-governor-cuomo.html) calls it a “huge undertaking,” given Cuomo’s political experience, his family legacy (his father [Mario Cuomo](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/02/nyregion/mario-cuomo-new-york-governor-and-liberal-beacon-dies-at-82.html) was a three-term governor of New York), and his campaign war-chest of over $30 million. While in some ways Nixon is a political neophyte — she has never run for, or held office before — the actress has been politically active on specific issues, including education, LGBT rights, and women’s rights for years. Here’s what you need to know about Cynthia Nixon. > [](https://twitter.com/CynthiaNixon/status/975794613221982209) ## Beyond Miranda Hobbes: Who is Cynthia Nixon? As she states in her ad, Cynthia Nixon was born in New York and raised in the Upper West Side with her mother. She attended Hunter College High School and then went to Barnard College of Columbia University. She began acting at age 12, and has acted on Broadway, on television, and in film. And has the EGT of an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). Nixon is also a [breast cancer survivor](https://www.longislandpress.com/2013/10/01/cynthia-nixon-rings-in-breast-cancer-awareness-month-on-li/). Nixon has had serious relationships with both men and women, and in interviews has identified as bisexual. “I don’t pull out the ‘bisexual’ word because nobody likes the bisexuals,” she said in an interview in 2012\. “Everybody likes to dump on the bisexuals.” She was in a relationship with David Mozes from 1988 to 2003, and the couple have two children Samantha and Charles. She is currently [married to political activist Christine Marinoni](http://people.com/celebrity/cynthia-nixon-marries-christine-marinoni-in-n-y-c/), and the two have a child named Max. Marinoni recently resigned from her role in as an adviser to the New York City Department of Education in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. According to an interview she did with the [Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/cynthia-nixon-on-bisexuality-and-her-new-role-in-wit) in 2012, Nixon is not related to former President Richard Nixon — “at least that I know of,” she said. “It was unpleasant to grow up with that name, especially after I discovered my family hated him so much,” Nixon said. “When I was little and didn’t know anything more about him other than he was the president, I liked sharing the name.” ## What about Cynthia Nixon’s politics? Nixon has been active in political circles surrounding the issues of education, LGBTQ rights, breast cancer awareness, and women’s health care. She first made [national headlines](http://www.newsweek.com/cynthia-nixon-new-york-passing-gay-marriage-68487) in politics when she became involved in the 2011 campaign to legalize same-same marriage in New York. During that campaign, she lobbied state lawmakers in Albany. Beyond lobbying for marriage equality, Nixon was active in the Fight Back New York PAC, which works to get politicians who don’t support marriage equality out of office. She has been honored for for LGBT visibility by [GLAAD](https://www.glaad.org/2010/03/22/video-of-cynthia-nixon-accepting-the-vito-russo-award-at-the-21st-annual-glaad-media-awards-in-new-york?page=1&response%5Ftype=embed) and the [Human Rights Campaign](https://www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-to-honor-cynthia-nixon-with-visibility-award-at-the-2018-hrc-greater-ne). (Though she did come under fire at one point for referring to her sexuality as a [“choice.”](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/cynthia-nixon-wit-being-gay%5Fn%5F1223889.html)) Both Nixon and her kids attended or attend New York City public schools. She is a spokesperson for the [Alliance for Quality Education](http://www.aqeny.org/2018/01/16/aqe-reacts-executive-education-budget-proposal/#), and was recently outspoken against Gov. Cuomo’s recent proposed education budget “Governor Cuomo had a chance today to put the next generation of New Yorkers first,” she said in a [January 2018 AQE statement](http://www.aqeny.org/2018/01/16/aqe-reacts-executive-education-budget-proposal/#). “Instead, he proposed yet another budget that will keep New York at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to educational equity and justice. Governor Cuomo claims he has provided record increases in education funding, but in reality, he has created a record spending gap between the wealthiest and poorest school districts.” In a 2006 profile in [_New York Magazine_](http://nymag.com/arts/theater/profiles/21647/), Nixon was already known for her support of public schools and for taking public transportation. “If you make the decision to send your kid to public school, don’t even look at private schools,” she told then-_New York Magazine_ writer, now-_New Yorker_ critic Emily Nussbaum. “Just shut the door. Just turn off the TV. And then you don’t even have to worry about preschool. You have to worry about what’s good for your kid, but you don’t have to worry about how to position yourself.” Nixon has also been an advocate for women’s health care — both in her work on breast cancer awareness and reproductive rights. She has worked with [Planned Parenthood](http://www.playbill.com/article/cynthia-nixon-and-planned-parenthood-part-of-nmotherstruck-conversation-series-com-378238), and in 2016 wrote an essay for [TIME about her mother’s abortion and a woman’s right to choose](http://time.com/4189421/cynthia-nixon-abortion-rights/). ## Transcript Mild protest. Over there? Algebra. New York is my home. How you doing? I've never lived anywhere else. When I grew up here it was just my mom and me in a one bedroom fifth floor walk Up. [ LAUGH ] New York is where I was raised and where I am raising my kids. I'm a proud public school graduate. And a prouder public school parent. I was given chances I just don't see for most of New York's kids today. Our leaders are letting us down. We are now the most unequal state in the entire country. With both incredible wealth and extreme poverty. Half the kids in our upstate cities live below the poverty line. How did we let this happen? I love New York. I've never wanted to live anywhere else, but something has to change. We want our government to work again, on healthcare, ending mass incarceration, fixing our broken subway. We are sick of politicians who care more about headlines and power than they do about us. It can't just be business as usual anymore. If we're gonna get at the root problem of inequity, we have to turn the system upside down. We have to go out ourselves and seize it. This is a time to stick our necks out To remember where we came from. This is a time to be visible. This is a time to fight. I'm Cynthia Nixon. I'm a New Yorker [ MUSIC ] And together we can win this fight. 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