Sam Hodgson / The New York Times

Cynthia Nixon, Democratic candidate for New York State governor, will visit Ithaca on Sept. 1 to make an "environmental announcement."

August 30, 2018

Democratic Candidate for Governor Cynthia Nixon to Visit Ithaca on Sept. 1

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Democratic candidate for New York State governor Cynthia Nixon announced on her Facebook page Wednesday that she will travel to Ithaca on Saturday, Sept. 1 to make a “major environmental announcement.”

Nixon, a former Broadway and television actress, will challenge incumbent Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic party nomination in the Sept.13 primary.

Nixon is scheduled to visit the Ithaca Farmers Market near Cayuga Lake for a photo opportunity, though campaigning is not permitted within the market itself. She will then travel to the Space @ GreenStar, a gathering place in downtown Ithaca that accommodates up to 220 people, according to their website.

There, she will make an announcement on environmental policy at 10:30 a.m. among presentations by several “local activists,” according to the event page.

Nixon’s campaign platform on environmental issues calls for a 100 percent transition to renewable energy by 2050, with 40 percent of state energy funding directed toward improving renewable energy in low-income communities and communities of color.

She is against fracking, offshore drilling and nuclear power, according to her website, calling for offshore land and wind farms to make up the energy deficit as well as cutbacks on carbon emissions.

This will be be Nixon’s second official visit to Ithaca as a gubernatorial candidate. She last visited in June, where she delivered a speech emphasizing energy, education and healthcare reforms, according to Ithaca.com.

Her opponent last visited Ithaca in May, when Cuomo announced a $22 million plan to to renovate Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport, as previously reported by The Sun.

Her campaign encountered multiple obstacles earlier this year when it misspelled the city’s name as “Ithica” on campaign invitations prior to the June event and when Nixon herself declared Ithaca the start of upstate New York to The New York Times Magazine.

Nixon’s visit to Ithaca is scheduled only days after her first and only debate with Cuomo, which took place Wednesday night.

Nixon described herself as a “democratic socialist” to Politico in June and is seeking her first term as governor on a liberal platform.