The son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has announced that he will run for New York Governor in 2022.
Andrew Giuliani, 35, announced in April that he was planning on running to be the state's governor in the next election, but said that he would confirm his candidacy by the end of that month.
However, speaking to the New York Post on Tuesday ahead of the formal announcement, Andrew Giuliani finally confirmed that he will run for governor, saying: "I'm a politician out of the womb. It's in my DNA," in reference to his father, who served as New York City Mayor from 1994 to 2001.
The 35-year-old is expected to run against incumbent Andrew Cuomo in the election next year, despite several controversies surrounding him.
Cuomo previously suggested that he would run for the position again in 2022 but has not yet formally announced his candidacy.
"Giuliani vs. Cuomo. Holy smokes. Its Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier. We can sell tickets at Madison Square Garden," Andrew Giuliani told the Post in reference to the heavyweight title fight from 1971.
Andrew Giuliani served as Special Assistant to the President and then Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison in the Administration during former President Donald Trump's four years in the White House between 2017 and 2021.
He also made a living as a professional golfer between 2009 and 2014, after graduating from Duke University with a degree in management and sociology.
Although Andrew Giuliani has not run for public office previously, he told the Post that he believes he is the best candidate to defeat Cuomo in next year's election.
"It would be one of the epic showdowns in the state's history," Andrew Giuliani said. "I know we can defeat Andrew Cuomo in 2022. I am going to be the 57th governor of New York," he added.
Several scandals have engulfed Cuomo in recent months, including allegations that the governor covered up nursing home deaths caused by COVID-19 and accusations of sexual harassment from multiple women.
Cuomo has repeatedly denied the claims of sexual harassment and covering up nursing home deaths, but is under investigation in relation to both.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is also looking into the role that some of Cuomo's aides played in "drafting, editing sale and promotion" of the governor's book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the Pandemic, which was released last year as part of a $5.1 million deal.
Andrew Giuliani's father faced renewed media attention over the last 12 months after he led Trump's legal campaign to overturn the results of 2020's presidential election in several battleground states.
Trump's team filed more than 50 lawsuits as part of the campaign, but they were unsuccessful, with Joe Biden sworn in as U.S. President on January 20, 2021.
Andrew Giuliani is not the only Republican to have confirmed their candidacy for New York Governor, as 1st congressional district representative Lee Zeldin announced in April that he will run.
Despite the competition for the GOP nomination, Andrew Giuliani is confident that he will follow in his father's footsteps into public office in New York.
He told the Post: "I believe we have the best chance to win if I'm the Republican candidate in November. It's not even close."
Newsweek has contacted Giuliani, Zeldin and Governor Cuomo for comment.
