Cynthia Nixon Would 'Rather Be The Good Nixon Than The Bad Cuomo'

Jenna Amatulli

New York gubernatorial challenger Cynthia Nixon took a swipe at incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo during an appearance on “The Late Show″ Wednesday.

Host Stephen Colbert jokingly asked the “Sex and the City” star about her campaign slogan, and the jabs began.

“Why ‘Cynthia for New York?’ Why not ‘Nixon for New York?’” asked Colbert.

Nixon told a story of her mother to explain why “Nixon for New York” conjures former President Richard Nixon, and it quickly turned into a dig at Cuomo.

“My mother used to say, she grew up during World War II with a father named Adolf and she lived through the 1970s with a husband named Nixon. So I am aware of the dubious nature of my last name. But I have to say, if given a choice, I would rather be the good Nixon than the bad Cuomo,” she said.

Damn, Cynthia.

The Democratic candidate went on to explain that she’s running because she’s a “lifelong New Yorker” who loves the state and knows “we could do so much better.”

“Because we’re a blue state, we’re a proudly Democratic state, but we’ve got a governor in there who governs like a Republican ... All of the progressive things that California is doing and Oregon and Washington ― campaign finance reform, voting reform, fully funding our schools, and being a leader in renewable energy and enacting real criminal justice reform,” said Nixon.

“This is the kind of stuff we want to be doing in New York. We want to be closing racial and economic inequity here and we’re just not.”

Cuomo led Nixon by 31 percentage points in a recent poll, down from 47 points one month earlier.

Many on social media have remarked that Nixon’s campaign is already inspiring change:

New York’s primary is Sept. 13.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.