Zephyr Rain Teachout is a law professor, author, attorney, and former political candidate. In 2014, she ran as a Democratic candidate for Governor of New York and in 2016 sought election to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent the 19th Congressional District of New York. She has also twice run for New York Attorney General.
With a constitutional law professor and a trial judge as parents, Teachout seemed destined for a life in law. She attended Yale University for English and then graduated summa cum laude from Duke Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. At the same time, she earned a Master of Arts in political science.
In the beginning of her career, Teachout clerked for Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 2004, she served as the Director of Internet Organizing for Howard Dean’s Presidential Campaign. In 2008, with co-author Thomas Streeter, she published, “Mousepads, Shoe Leather, and Hope: Lessons from the Howard Dean Campaign for the Future of Internet Politics,” in which she discusses how Dean’s campaign for President changed the way campaigns are run today.
In 2014, Teachout lost the gubernatorial election to Andrew Cuomo but saw her second book published successfully. “Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United” traces the history of corruption in American law.
The following year, Teachout was named CEO and board chair of the campaign finance reform-oriented organization Mayday PAC, but stepped down a few months later to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Her campaign platform included a higher minimum wage, increased spending on public infrastructure, a ban on fracking, an increase in manufacturing jobs, and property tax cuts.
In 2020, Teachout published her latest book, ”Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money.” In it, she discusses the intersection of antimonopoly law, labor, and democracy.
As of January 2022, she is a special advisor and senior counsel for economic justice for the New York State Attorney General’s Office. She announced via Twitter that she would take a leave of absence from her position at Fordham Law School to focus on her role.