What a week in Albany.

The highly anticipated 2022 governor’s race got more crowded with Attorney General Letitia James dropping an announcement video on Friday and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams filing paperwork to run. 

Both James and Williams will face Gov. Kathy Hochul in next year’s Democratic primary.

The backdrop of the race is the very public demise of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s political career. The three-term governor resigned in disgrace following a blockbuster report released by the office of Attorney General James in which 11 women accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct.

Charges filed by one of those women, Brittany Commisso, an aide who worked for the governor, resulted in a criminal summons for Cuomo being made public on Thursday. The former governor will be charged with forcible touching, a misdemeanor. 

The charges stem from an incident on Dec. 7, 2020 when then-Gov. Cuomo called aide Brittany Commisso to the executive mansion to help him send a text. When Commisso arrived, she told the attorney general that Cuomo hugged her, put his hand up her blouse and cupped her breast.

Capital Tonight spoke with Larry Levy, vice president of economic development and professional studier and executive dean at the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University, about both the latest in the drama surrounding former Gov. Cuomo and the newly competitive Democratic race for governor.

“I’ve seen enough to know that it ain’t over til it’s over,” Levy said of Cuomo’s political career. “If he is serious about running [for governor] next year, this could be the best thing.”

According to Levy, a criminal complaint like the one filed against Cuomo “is really on the low end of things that you have to deal with."

“And he’s now in a position to figure out a way to get past it or chill out for four years and see if you want to jump back again,” Levy explained.  

Levy said that in a post-Trump world, it’s possible to come back from just about anything except a jail sentence. 

As for the entry of Letitia James into the race for governor, Levy said he considers her the front-runner.

“There are a number of people and I guess I’m in that camp, who believes she is the front runner,” he said. “What you can be sure of, is that it’s not going to be a two-person race. And the more people who do jump in, the better for Gov. [Hochul]."