New York Attorney General Letitia James says she is running for governor in 2022.
If elected, James, 63, would be the first Black woman to be governor of any U.S. state. James made history as the first woman of color to win citywide elected office in New York City as the public advocate.
“I’ve spent my career guided by a simple principle: stand up to the powerful on behalf of the vulnerable, to be a force for change,” James said. “We can do this if we stand up and speak out together.”
The announcement did not come as a massive shock. It has been expected that James would run against Gov. Andrew Cuomo up until his resignation this summer.
James will now face off against Gov. Kathy Hochul, another Democrat.
Cuomo was forced to step down after James’ probe concluded he had sexually harassed nearly a dozen women, including current and former staffers.
“This is a sad day for New York because independent investigators have concluded that Governor Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and, in doing so, broke the law,” said James at a news conference at the time. “I am grateful to all the women who came forward to tell their stories in painstaking detail, enabling investigators to get to the truth. No man — no matter how powerful — can be allowed to harass women or violate our human rights laws, period.”
On Thursday, Cuomo was with a misdemeanor sex-crime complaint that alleges he forcibly touched a woman last Dec. 7 in the governor’s Executive Mansion in Albany.
“From the moment my office received the referral to investigate allegations that former Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, we proceeded without fear or favor,” James said. “The criminal charges brought today against Mr. Cuomo for forcible touching further validate the findings in our report.”
