Zephyr Teachout

Zephyr Teachout
File:Zephyr Teachout.jpg Teachout at the 2014 New York City LGBT Pride March
Born	Zephyr Rain Teachout (1971-10-21) October 21, 1971 Vermont, United States
Nationality	American
Education	Yale University Duke University School of Law
Occupation	Associate Professor of Law
Organization	Fordham University

Zephyr Rain Teachout (born October 21, 1971) is an American academic and activist. She is an Associate Professor of Law at Fordham University. In January 2016, she announced her candidacy for representative of New York's 19th congressional district. In 2015, Teachout held the positions of CEO and Board chair for the US-based anti-corruption nonprofit Mayday PAC, replacing Lawrence Lessig. She ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Governor of New York in 2014 and lost to incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo, receiving 34% of the primary vote.

Early life

Zephyr Rain Teachout, the second of five children, was born in Vermont 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 attaining her law degree, Teachout clerked for Chief Judge Edward Roy Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Career

She is a tenured Associate Professor of Law at Fordham Law School and previously a Visiting Professor of Law at Duke University and a lecturer at the University of Vermont.

Teachout is an antitrust and media expert who served as the Director of Internet Organizing for the 2004 Howard Dean presidential campaign. She cofounded A New Way Forward, an organization built to break up big banks, and was involved with Occupy Wall Street. Teachout was also the first national director of the Sunlight Foundation.

2014 New York gubernatorial campaign

File:TAG Zephyr Teachout.jpg

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.

Zephyr Teachout faced off against incumbent Andrew Cuomo as well as comedian Randy Credico in the Democratic primary election on September 9, 2014. Her running mate was Tim Wu.

During the Working Families Party convention to nominate a candidate for the 2014 gubernatorial election, Teachout lost a nomination bid against incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo's margin of victory was much closer than expected, especially since the Working Families Party traditionally cross-endorses the Democratic Party candidate.

After losing the Working Families Party nomination to Cuomo, she announced that she would be running for the Democratic nomination for governor. Her running mate was Lieutenant Governor candidate Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor who coined the phrase "net neutrality". Their campaign raised $800,000, a small amount for New York state politics. Four days before the primary election polls showed their likely voter share at 26%, in line with the predictions of political professionals. She and Wu lost to Cuomo and his running mate, former U.S. Representative Kathy Hochul in the primary on September 9, 2014, but surprised experts and pollsters by capturing over 34% of the vote, with an especially strong showing in upstate New York.

2016 New York Congressional campaign

In 2016, Zephyr Teachout, along with Will Yandik (Livingston Town Councilman), Bob Bishop (Ex-Hamden Town Councilman), John Faso (Ex-State Assembly Minority Leader}, and Andrew Heaney, are running for Congress from the New York's 19th congressional district, currently held by Chris Gibson who is retiring at the end of his current term. Teachout and Yandik are competing in the Democratic primary; the others are competing in the GOP primary -- both to be held on June 28, 2016.

Selected publications

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) (ed. with T. Streeter)

Further reading

• "Cuomo Opponent Unbowed by Underdog Status " The New York Times, 25 August 2014, on page A15.

External links

• Official bio - Fordham University
• Zephyr Teachout for Congress
• Publications and papers by Zephyr Teachout in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (abstracts; full texts).
• Appearances on C-SPAN

• http://web.archive.org/web/20120206105257/http://www.freepress.net/files/timwu.pdf