Teachout takes first steps towards Attorney General run

[brooklynite]

Source: Albany Times-Unioun

Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout tweeted on Monday morning that she was planning to form an “exploratory committee” to raise money for a run for New York attorney general. She will decide whether to finalize the decision to run in the coming weeks.

Teachout ran a surprisingly competitive race in 2014 for governor on the left flank of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which made her something of a hero in New York’s progressive circles. She is also the campaign treasurer for actress Cynthia Nixon, who is challenging Cuomo in a Democratic primary this year.

Along with the announcement, Teachout tweeted news about her team and background.

Link to tweet

Read more: https://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/282232/teachout-takes-first-steps-towards-attorney-general-run/

[George II]

1. The article is slightly incorrect, she didn't run against Cuomo for Governor in 2014, she ran....

....against him in the Democrat Primary to represent the Democrats in the General Election.

She lost by roughly 2-1 (actually 1.88-1)

[mcar]

2. That doesn't sound "highly competitive"

[eggplant]

6. She beat him 2:1 in Columbia County (SE of Albany) n/t

[mcar]

9. That's one county in a statewide race

[eggplant]

10. Why yes, it is. And there are a ton more.

http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2014/09/10/clickable-county-by-county-results-for-the-cuomo-t

Also, my bad. She beat him almost 4:1 here.

[George II]

12. Yet she lost state wide 2 to 1.

[FUGAMC]

19. Cuomo beat Teachout . . .

Only because he carried NYC and Buffalo (as a result of the corrupt Buffalo Billions that Preet was investigating). http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2014/09/10/clickable-county-by-county-results-for-the-cuomo-t

Cuomo got crushed in the Capitol region, where many State workers vote. Cuomo is not well liked in Albany, except for by a handful of sycophants who work in his office.

[eggplant]

20. Agreed.

Welcome to DU!

[Rhiannon12866]

25. I remember that. She won upstate, Cuomo only carried the day because he won the more populous City.

Welcome to DU!

[George II]

13. Is Columbia County not the 42nd of 62 counties in NYS with respect to population, and.............

only 3/10 of one percent of the state's population.

Yeah, quite an accomplishment.

[NurseJackie]

8. "Highly competitive" my foot.

This is what happens when lazy reporters cut and paste political "press releases" word-for-word. That whole thing is just a bunch of fluff and damn near a political at itself.

[ehrnst]

17. Yep.

Her wikipedia page tries to polishes the loss with "His margin of victory was much smaller than expected, especially since the Working Families Party traditionally cross-endorses the Democratic Party candidate."

[doxyluv13]

22. Maybe your flag gives it away but she did run against Cuomo in 2014

In the primary election. Which is an election and was in 2014. The usage in the OP is perfectly correct. Its not like the Canadian system.

[George II]

26. You know not of which you speak.

[MGKrebs]

3. I remember her organizing during the Dean campaign.

Those were exciting times!

[jaysunb]

4. Indeed ! n/t

[Gothmog]

5. I am still hoping that Preet runs

Link to tweet

[WhoWoodaKnew]

7. I thought I'd heard just about all forms of last names. Haven't heard that one before.

Anyone know that she's like? Can she win?

[rpannier]

14. Very liberal

She's smart
Unsure who will ultimately run for the AG nomination
Whomever takes it will win the GE, unless they do something really stupid

[Hortensis]

18. She wants to go after corruption, dark money,

antitrust enforcement. I haven't paid a lot of attention to her since I'm in the south, but she's an ambitious reformer. No idea how good she'd be, but I like those ideas, of course.

I was favorably impressed by Teachout keeping Sanders at a distance in 2016, not seeking his endorsement, even as she tried to appeal to all the same people who were drawn to his reform messages. Similar to Elizabeth Warren, and I took it as a possible indication of integrity and good sense, not a barnburner.

I'm interested in seeing how she develops, but if Bharara runs he'll have all the experience and proven record she lacks, and he's also a reformer. I've read that these days he's focusing on codifying presidential norms into law to limit the damage that could be accomplished by electing corrupt and otherwise destructive executives.

[JNelson6563]

11. This should be her last shot.

I don't think anyone who runs at a certain level (i.e. statewide) and loses should run more than twice at that level. Once you lose three times that is what people remember about you. Sure it's there for loss 1 and loss 2 but, in most cases, once it's at 3 it's rather insurmountable.

[MGKrebs]

15. That assumes that you will have a better candidate to choose from,

which isn't always the case.
If you had to choose between a 3 time loser and Roy Moore, you might choose the 3 time loser.

I just don't see any reason to arbitrarily restrict our choices.

[JNelson6563]

16. There will be no enthusiasm FOR her tho'.

It's not arbitrary, it's experience in politics. I've seen it play out up close and personal. More than once.

[crazycatlady]

21. NY does have a bench

She ran in 2016 for Congress in NY-19. I believe there are 7 Democrats running for that nomination.

[Rhiannon12866]

27. Not only District 19, here in District 21, we initially had 9 Democrats running for the nomination.

Incumbent Republican Elise Stefanik - Paul Ryan protegee - is extremely unpopular. It's quite a change from previous years. Back when we were NY-20, the Democrats often didn't field a candidate against John Sweeney.

[crazycatlady]

28. I'm working in another upstate NY district

There are 5 Democrats still standing in the primary. The GOP rep is very unpopular and when at the doors I've heard terms like 'imbecile' and "SOB" used to describe him.

[doxyluv13]

23. Interesting opinion

.. but not persuasive. Candidates often build name recognition in unsuccessful campaigns that helps them win later.

[JNelson6563]

24. Don't take my word for this.

I think the important thing here is choose the races you enter with discernment.