Cynthia Nixon vows to continue campaign for New York governor despite failing to get Democrat endorsement

Cynthia Nixon has failed to secure the Democratic party's support for her campaign for governor of New York state - but has insisted that she never expected to, and will fight on regardless.

Ms Nixon, a 52-year-old actress best known for her role as Miranda in Sex And The City, was heavily defeated by her incumbent rival, Andrew Cuomo.

Mr Cuomo secured 95 per cent of support at Wednesday's convention, meaning that Ms Nixon failed to even secure the 25 per cent necessary to guarantee automatic inclusion on the ballot.

Ms Nixon now needs to secure 15,000 signatures on a petition to be allowed to challenge Mr Cuomo at the September 13 primary, ahead of the November election.

"As a two-term incumbent, it was no surprise to anyone that Andrew Cuomo won the nomination today," said Lauren Hitt, a member of Ms Nixon's team.

She told The Telegraph that it was usual practice for anyone challenging an incumbent to have to get on the ballot through a petition, and "no one on the team thinks that will be a problem."

Mr Cuomo was endorsed at the gathering in Hempstead, Long Island, by Hillary Clinton. On Thursday he will give a speech accepting the nomination, and is expected to be introduced by Joe Biden.

Ms Nixon was present at the convention, in what Ms Hitt said was a bold decision from someone who knew they would not secure the votes. Mr Cuomo did not attend.

"We're standing up, being heard, and talking about the issues," she said.

Ms Nixon told the meeting she was not a "protest candidate", and accused Mr Cuomo of being a Republican.

"I'm here because I think it's important that at a Democratic convention there be at least one Democrat running for governor," she said.

"I'm not a protest candidate. I'm a viable candidate who is really running hard for the Democratic nomination, and that's why I'm here, to say this is my party, too, I'm not afraid and I'm here. You can't shut me out."  

Since launching her campaign in March, Ms Nixon, a long-term education activist, has positioned herself to the left of Mr Cuomo - proposing the legalisation of marijuana and promising to fix New York City's crumbling subway system.

Mr Cuomo, by contrast, has run a campaign emphasising his experience.

Byron Brown, the mayor of Buffalo and Mr Cuomo's handpicked chairman of the state Democratic party, called New York "the progressive capital of the nation."

He praised Mr Cuomo's successful push to legalise gay marriage, pass tough gun control laws, enact a $15-an-hour minimum wage and establish the state's first paid family-leave programme.