For months as he faced allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, Gov. Andrew Cuomo kept a base of support together in New York.
It was a firewall made sturdy from 10 years of holding power as governor -- an inherently powerful position to begin with, made all the more powerful by a governor with an ability to find and use leverage to get what he wants. Cuomo on Tuesday began to see that wall crumble, however, as the findings of an investigation by Attorney General Letitia James' office were unspooled into public view.
Prior to 2020, when his pandemic briefings became a national must-watch for homebound people, Cuomo built power in what seems like a very old-fashioned way now. He wasn't a celebrity or a social media sensation. He had relationships with labor, support from key members of the business community, a policy agenda they could get behind.
Polling up until Tuesday showed he retained support from Black voters and Democrats, most of whom did not want him to step aside. But Cuomo is losing support from organized labor in New York after spending years building relationships with union leaders on a mutually beneficial agenda.
He's fully lost the support of a White House he had counted on to work closely with over the next four years after someone the governor has built a rapport with sits in the Oval Office.
His lieutenant governor who had backed the administration's agenda to the hilt is condemning the details of the report and praising the women who have come forward.
Neighboring state governors who has sought to lead a sort of senior member are calling on him to step aside as well.
Cuomo is isolated, and the political structures of a complex state he had mastered after 2 1/2 terms in office are turning against him, narrowing his odds that he can remain governor.
In the early days of the Cuomo administration, Democrats from the local level to the federal government sidestepped any criticism of the governor, making any mild complaints seemingly newsworthy. That has changed.
President Joe Biden, who had campaigned for the governor in 2018 when Cuomo faced a left-wing primary challenge, backed calls for his resignation.
Brooklyn Democratic Committee Chairwoman and state Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte said the details of the report show Cuomo "is unfit for office and should step down and resign." Bichotte represents a borough that has been a political stronghold for the governor.
And labor unions which have made up the backbone of institutional and political support for the governor also pulled away from him publicly.
"It is clear from the conclusions of the report that Governor Cuomo cannot continue to lead the state," said Rich Maroko, the leader of the Hotel Trades Council, a small, but influential labor union. "If he does not resign the Assembly should move promptly to impeach him."
32BJ, a service workers union, gave an even stronger signal to state lawmakers contemplating the final step of impeachment.
"And if the governor does not resign," said union President Kyle Bragg, "we will support the state legislature's actions to bring accountability to the office with all deliberate speed."
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie after huddling with lawmakers on Tuesday afternoon announced Cuomo had lost the confidence of his large Democratic conference and the impeachment investigation would conclude swiftly.
Cuomo once again on Tuesday, this time in a videotaped statement, apologized to people who may have felt uncomfortable by his behavior, but insisted his comments were misconstrued, that he often touches men and women alike as a sign of innocent affection or consolation and that he never groped or forcibly kissed anyone.
In the space between the wave of allegations against Cuomo and the report finding the claims are credible, a lull had set in. Cuomo was still managing a pandemic and a vaccine distribution, and state lawmakers -- including those who had called on him to resign -- appeared with him in public at events.
Such a scene now seems even more difficult to fathom for some in Albany.
"This is a hard job," said Republican Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt. "Sometimes you have to hold people in your own party accountable. I think he's throwing the gauntlet down and saying 'you're going to have to impeach me.' "