Cynthia Nixon May Be Moved Off Working Families Ballot For Gov.

NEW YORK — New Yorkers won't be able to vote for Cynthia Nixon for governor next month if Gov. Andrew Cuomo accepts an offer from a minor party that backed her.

The Working Families Party state committee passed a resolution Wednesday night to move the onetime "Sex and the City" star off the top of the ticket open its general-election ballot line to the Democratic incumbent if he wants it.

Cuomo handily beat Nixon in last month's Democratic primary. But her name was still slated to appear on the WFP's gubernatorial ballot in the Nov. 6 general election because the left-wing party nominated her for the state's top office in May amid a political clash with Cuomo.

To avoid the risk of siphoning votes from Cuomo and handing the election to Republican Marc Molinaro, the WFP now plans to move Nixon down the ballot and give its gubernatorial nod to the second-term governor — if he accepts the offer by 5 p.m. Friday. Nixon would stay in her current place if not, the party said.

"Our differences with Cuomo are real—but our differences with the Trump Republicans are much greater," Bill Lipton, the New York WFP director, said in a statement. "We see new right-wing Republican attacks on working families and on our democracy every day."

New York's arcane election laws necessitate some complex maneuvering. A candidate placed on a ballot can only get off it by running for another office, moving out of state or dying.

The WFP plans to nominate Nixon for the 66th Assembly District in Lower Manhattan, a seat currently held by Democratic Assembly Woman Deborah Glick. Nixon plans to campaign and vote for Glick, the WFP said.

City Councilman Jumaane Williams, who lost a closer primary race to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, would get the WFP's nod for the state Senate seat held by Simcha Felder — the rogue Brooklyn Democrat who caucuses with Republicans. Williams doesn't plan to actively run for the job, the WFP said.

The WFP got behind Cuomo's re-election in 2014, but he did not seek the party's support this year as frustration with him mounted among activists and Cuomo-allied labor unions pulled out of the party, according to news reports.

It's uncertain whether the governor will accept the WFP's ballot line now. A Cuomo campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

The WFP's move seemed pragmatic — its candidate for governor must win at least 50,000 general-election votes for it to remain a recognized political party.

But the party claimed several victories further down the ballot. WFP-backed candidates ousted seven Democratic state senators, including six former members of the Independent Democratic Conference, a now-defunct group of breakaway Democrats who allied themselves with Republicans for years.

"We stand by our critique of Governor Cuomo," Lipton said. "Once we flip the Senate, our allies in the legislature will be able to put progressive policy on Cuomo’s desk, whether he wants it or not."

(Lead image: Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park on Sept. 29, 2018. Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Global Citizen)