ALBANY, N.Y. – Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo, coping with fallout from the corruption conviction of a former aide, will face a primary challenge this fall from actress Cynthia Nixon, the former “Sex and the City” star in the role of Miranda.

Nixon, who has never served in government, said Monday she will run on her lifelong ties to New York and her advocacy for public schools. Cuomo has been mentioned as a potential Democratic Party presidential candidate if he can easily win re-election.

New York’s gubernatorial primary election is Sept. 13.

The 51-year-old Emmy-award winning actress launched her campaign by posting a video showing her dropping her child off at school and riding the subway — and a link to an internet donation page.

Her candidacy announcement bashed Cuomo for “a string of indictments for corruption, his failure to fix the New York City subway and his support for a backroom deal which handed Republicans control of the state Senate.”

In advance of her announcement, the Cuomo camp trotted out endorsements for the incumbent from two well-known gay males: British singer Elton John and New York Congressman Sean Maloney.

Nixon, known as a liberal left advocate, is married to Christine Marinoni, who has been a senior advisor to the New York City Department of Education. They are friends with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has a long-running feud with Cuomo over control of the public schools and blame for the city’s mass transit problems.

In challenging Cuomo, Nixon takes on a two-term governor with wide name recognition and a $30 million war chest. If elected, she would become New York’s first female governor, and the first to come out as gay.

Nixon climbed into the governor’s race on a day when a new Siena College poll showed that Cuomo’s job approval rating has slumped eight points since January. State GOP Chairman Ed Cox said the trend shows Cuomo is “in serious trouble.” But the poll, taken before Nixon’s announcement, also showed Cuomo defeating the actress by 69 percent to 19 percent among registered Democratic voters.

The Cuomo campaign took no shots at Nixon, instead focusing on the incumbent’s legislative successes on behalf of same-sex marriage, an increased minimum wage and stringent gun control laws.

“We look forward to building on that record as we continue to fight and deliver for New York families,” the Cuomo campaign said in a statement.

Cuomo has been dogged in recent weeks by headlines relating to the bribery and corruption charges brought against Joseph Percoco, his campaign manager in both 2010 and 2014, whom Cuomo has likened to a brother.

Percoco was convicted last week of three felony charges relating to Cuomo administration economic-development projects.

“Since the Percoco convictions, Cuomo has been taking on water from both the left and the right,” said Onondaga County Republican Chairman Tom Dadey.

He said Cuomo appears more vulnerable now than he has at any other point since taking over the governor’s office in January 2011.

Gerald Benjamin, a political-science professor at the State University of New York in New Paltz, said Nixon could emerge as a major headache for Cuomo should she succeed in drawing the support of the union-backed Working Families Party, which has yet to state a preference in the governor’s race.

“Cuomo is sometimes respected, sometimes feared, but he is not loved,” said Benjamin.

Joe Mahoney is the CNHI state reporter for New York. Contact him at jmahoney@cnhi.com.