ITHACA, N.Y.—Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick and New York State Assemblywoman Anna Kelles have endorsed law professor Zephyr Teachout as she once again tries to become the New York Attorney General.
It’s the second time Myrick has endorsed Teachout for office, as he also boosted her campaign in 2018 when she ran for Attorney General the first time. Teachout endorsed Kelles during the latter’s run for State Assembly in 2020.
Teachout officially kicked off her AG campaign Monday morning.
“I’m proud to endorse Zephyr Teachout for Attorney Genral of New York,” Myrick said in a press release. “She’s a proven fighter who’s unafraid to take on power, whether it’s boldly cleaning up corruption in Albany, taking on the fracking industry, or Big Pharma and Big Tech for putting profits over people. We need a fearless Attorney General with guts, and there’s no one who can match the one and only Zephyr Teachout.”
Teachout, a law professor at Fordham University, came in second in the Democratic primary in 2018, losing to eventual winner Letitia James. In that race, Teachout represented an answer from the left to the more establishment candidate James, who had the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo. Ironically, Teachout is now running for the Attorney General office again after James’ investigations led to Cuomo’s resignation, opening the governor’s office, which James is now running for.
There are now at least three Democratic AG candidates, including Teachout, NYS Senator Shelley Mayer and Maria Vullo, the former leader of the state’s Department of Financial Services. Lawyer Michael Henry is the lone Republican who has declared his intentions to run for the office.
“Zephyr Teachout is a steadfast champion for justice who will take on polluters, political corruption and corporate greed with equal zeal,” Kelles said of Teachout’s candidacy. “New York needs a proven warrior willing to use the full force of the Attorney General’s office for equity and justice for all New Yorkers, and there is no one more qualified or committed than Zephyr.”
Teachout also staged an unsuccessful run for governor in 2014 but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Cuomo. In 2018, she ran a campaign that was largely aimed at calling out government corruption, expanding workers’ rights and enforcing fair housing laws, among other planks, prompting Myrick to say she was “the perfect person for this moment in American history.”