Praise for Cynthia Nixon's Campaign Launch from Potential Rival

Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner is giving a thumbs up to how Democratic candidate Cynthia Nixon launched her bid for governor, calling it a "good opening for a campaign and for a debate."

Miner has had her own love-hate relationship with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

In 2013 — when she was serving as Cuomo's hand-picked co-chair of the state Democratic party — she penned a scathing editorial for The New York Times criticizing him for under-funding upstate cities. 

"Democracy depends on having a vibrant public debate and the more people that are part of that, the better public policy is,” Miner told WNYC on Thursday. "I think we in New York have suffered for not having enough vibrant public policy and instead having decisions made behind closed doors by three men in a room." 

Miner is considering her own long-shot run for governor, but said she will not make up her mind based on who else is running. She also said she’s not rushing her decision.

"I would be a non-traditional, unconventional candidate by the very nature of who I am," Miner said, acknowledging that, as a former elected official from upstate with little name recognition in vote-rich New York City, she faces an uphill battle.  "One of the things I have going for me is that I don't have to live by other people's deadlines or guidelines," she added.

In the latest Siena College Poll, Cuomo leads a potential match-up in a Democratic primary against Cynthia Nixon, 66 points to 19 points. The poll was conducted the week before Nixon launched her campaign. Miner’s name was not included in the poll.

"We just wanted to see a potential match-up among the most known candidates," said Steven Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena poll. "Timing is everything." He said it's valuable to have a snapshot of how the public felt about Nixon before her campaign started.

Miner is spending part of her time in New York City teaching a course in municipal finance at New York University.