Zephyr Teachout

Zephyr Rain Teachout (born October 24, 1971) is an American academic, political activist, and former political candidate. She is an Associate Professor of Law at Fordham University

In 2014, Teachout ran for the Democratic Party nomination for governor of New York and lost to incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo, receiving 34% of the primary vote.

In August 2015, Teachout became CEO and board chair for the campaign finance reform-oriented organization Mayday PAC, replacing Lawrence Lessig. She stepped down from this position in December 2015 to run for the United States House of Representatives in New York's 19th congressional district. Teachout won the Democratic primary before losing to Republican John Faso in the November 8, 2016, general election.

The second of five children, Zephyr Teachout was born in Seattle, Washington, to Peter Teachout, a constitutional law professor at Vermont Law School, and Mary Miles Teachout, a state court judge. Her father served in the United States Army as a lieutenant during the Vietnam War and has a law degree from Harvard Law School.

She was raised on a farm outside of Norwich, Vermont. She attended Hanover High School in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she was a champion cross-country runner.

Teachout attended Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993. She went on to receive two simultaneous degrees from Duke University in 1999: a JD summa cum laude and a Master of Arts in political science. After earning her law degree, Teachout clerked for Chief Judge Edward Roy Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Teachout is a tenured Associate Professor of Law at Fordham Law School. She was formerly a Visiting Professor of Law at Duke University and a lecturer at the University of Vermont. She served as the Director of Internet Organizing for the 2004 Howard Dean presidential campaign. In 2009, she helped found the Antitrust League.

She was the first national director of the Sunlight Foundation, which promotes transparency and accountability in government.

She volunteered at Occupy Wall Street, where she encouraged the movement to focus on the importance of decentralized power, citing the ideas of James Madison, and worked to educate activists in corporate law and policy.

2014 New York gubernatorial campaign

Teachout shaking hands with National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981) president Larry Goldbetter at the "We Will Not Go Back" march and rally held on August 23, 2014.

Teachout faced off against incumbent Andrew Cuomo and comedian Randy Credico in the Democratic primary election on September 9, 2014. Teachout first ran for the Working Families Party nomination, but lost to Cuomo. His margin of victory was much smaller than expected, especially since the Working Families Party traditionally cross-endorses the Democratic Party candidate.

Teachout then announced that she would run for the Democratic nomination. Her running mate was Tim Wu, a Columbia University Law School professor who coined the phrase "net neutrality". Their platform called for a rollback of Cuomo's tax cuts for the wealthy, investment in transportation and broadband infrastructure, a statewide fracking ban, an end to high-stakes testing and fair funding for schools in both under-resourced and affluent school districts, restoring voting rights to convicted felons, and support for the NY DREAM Act and anti-corruption measures, including public financing of elections to reduce the power of corporate donors and affluent political insiders.

Their campaign raised $800,000, a small amount for New York state politics. Four days before the primary, polls showed their likely voter share at 26%, in line with the predictions of political professionals.

Teachout and Wu lost to Cuomo and his running mate, former U.S. Representative Kathy Hochul, in the primary on September 9, 2014, but did capture over 34% and 40% of the vote, respectively, with an especially strong showing in upstate New York.

2016 U.S. House campaign

In March 2015, Teachout moved from Brooklyn to Dutchess County, New York. Ten months later, she announced her candidacy in New York's 19th congressional district's June 2016 Democratic congressional primary. Teachout ran to replace Republican Chris Gibson, who was retiring. In the June 28 primary, Teachout won the Democratic nomination. She was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the National Education Association, New York State United Teachers, National Nurses United, the Communication Workers of America, EMILY's List, and the Sierra Club. She lost to Republican John Faso in the November 8 general election by nine percentage points.

Teachout has argued that the $1 million that hedge-fund managers Paul Singer and Robert Mercer donated to a pro-Faso super PAC had an important role in her defeat.

Post-House campaign

In January 2017, Teachout joined the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's lawsuit against President Donald Trump, alleging violations of the Constitution's emoluments clause.

Teachout was among the minority of Democratic congressional candidates who endorsed Bernie Sanders during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. She was also among the first candidates Sanders endorsed.

Teachout's platform for her House campaign included a higher minimum wage, increased spending on public infrastructure, a ban on fracking, an increase in manufacturing jobs, property tax cuts, increased investment in rural infrastructure, an end to Common Core and high-stakes testing, and campaign finance reform (specifically working to overturn Citizens United v. FEC).

Teachout is married to Nick Juliusburger, a software company executive. They live in Clinton, New York.

Books

• Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United (Harvard University Press, September 2014)
• Mousepads, Shoe Leather and Hope: Lessons from the Howard Dean Campaign for the Future of Internet Politics (Paradigm Publishers, 2007; edited with T. Streeter)

Articles