Cynthia Nixon Is Reportedly Getting Ready To Run For Governor Of New York

This fall's race for governor of New York could be getting a major dose of star power. An announcement may be coming soon that Cynthia Nixon is running for governor, NY1 reported Tuesday. If Nixon runs, she'll be challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo in September's Democratic primary. A spokeswoman for the Sex and the City star didn't deny that the actress was getting ready for a run.

"Many concerned New Yorkers have been encouraging Cynthia to run for office, and as she has said previously, she will continue to explore it," her representative Rebecca Sides Capellan said in a statement. "If and when such a decision is made, Cynthia will be sure to make her plans public."

NY1 reported that two former campaign aides to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rebecca Katz and Bill Hyers, were expected to help Nixon gear up for a campaign. Katz and Hyers did not immediately respond Tuesday to Bustle's request for comment.

Reports have swirled for months that Nixon was considering challenging Cuomo, who's running for his third term as governor. The Wall Street Journal reported in August that liberal groups were encouraging the actress to run. In an interview with NBC's Today that same month, Nixon didn't show her hand, but did say, "I think there are a lot of people who would like me to run and I think for a variety of reasons, but I think the number one is education."

Nixon has become a prominent celebrity activist on the left over the years. She's campaigned for de Blasio, former President Obama, and former Sen. Al Franken. She's gone to bat for state-level efforts to legalize gay marriage and for Planned Parenthood. And it's clear that home in New York, Nixon is indeed a big champion of public education.

In a USA Today op-ed published last year, Nixon wrote that, "as a public school parent, I am fearful about what our new U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has in store for our nation's public schools." The mother of three children who attend New York public schools went on to unfavorably compare Cuomo to DeVos, criticizing him for wanting to increase the number of charter schools in the city and accusing him of trying to eliminate student need-based funding for public schools.

Just last month, Nixon called for electing more "bluer" Democrats at a Human Rights Campaign gala in New York City, where the group honored her with its Visibility Award.

"If we had bluer Democrats, New York wouldn't have the worst inequality in the country," she said, as quoted by POLITICO. "For all the pride that we take here in being such a blue state, New York has the single worst income inequality of any state in the country — how can we know this fact and let it stand without actively working to change it?"

The former Sex and the City star isn't the only name being floated in the Democratic primary. Stephanie Miner, a former mayor of Syracuse, New York, and Terry Gipsen, a former state senator, are also in the mix to challenge Cuomo.

The governor doesn't seem fazed, however. "On people who may or may not run for governor on both sides of the aisle, that's up to them and we'll deal with it as the campaign progresses," he said on a conference call with reporters, according to POLITICO.

Speculating about exactly what a Nixon campaign would look like is putting the cart a bit before the horse at this point, since a spokesperson told NY1 that a final decision hadn't been made yet. But fans of Miranda Hobbes are sure to be waiting with bated breath to hear what the actress' next move will be.