UPDATE:
After it was teased than an announcement was coming, New York State Attorney General Letitia James has confirmed she is running for governor.
I'm running for Governor of New York because I have the experience, vision, and courage to take on the powerful on behalf of all New Yorkers.
— Tish James (@TishJames) October 29, 2021
Let's do this, together. pic.twitter.com/JA21M19p5m
ORIGINAL:
New York Attorney General Letitia James, will soon announce she is running for governor. Reporting from The New York Times cites "six Democratic leaders briefed on her plan." The announcement could come as soon as Thursday.
The report also notes that:
Ms. James, her chief of staff and key political advisers began informing allies in the state’s labor unions and Democratic political circles in recent days that she intends to challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul in next year’s Democratic primary, and could make her plans public as early as Thursday, potentially by video.
Several of the Democrats, all of whom asked for anonymity to detail private conversations, said that the attorney general’s team was seeking commitments for early endorsements that could help build momentum for a campaign.
Ms. James’s team would not confirm early Wednesday afternoon that she intended to enter the race, but an adviser later said that a decision had been reached, ending months of deliberations.
“Attorney General Letitia James has made a decision regarding the governor’s race,” the adviser, Kimberly Peeler-Allen, said in a statement. “She will be announcing it in the coming days.”
The report calls James "the most formidable challenger" to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), the state's first female governor who filled the spot when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D-NY) resignation went into effect.
Then again, it's still possible she may hold out, the report says:
One Democrat familiar with the attorney general’s thinking and deliberations said that Ms. James, who has considered the decision exhaustively, could still reverse course and either announce an exploratory committee for governor or that she will seek another term as attorney general rather than pursuing the top post. A late change of plans is not unprecedented in New York politics: Gov. Mario M. Cuomo famously abandoned airplanes waiting on the tarmac to whisk him to New Hampshire when he decided not to run for president in 1991.
James is known for going after former President Donald Trump, the National Rifle Association, and former Gov. Cuomo. It was James' investigation which ultimately forced the embattled governor to resign due to credible accounts he had broken state and federal laws by sexually harassing female employees.
In addition to Hochul running as governor as a Democrat, Republican candidates for governor include Rep. Lee Zeldin, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, and Andrew Giuliani.