Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon runs for governor

After flirting with a run for months, Nixon tweeted Monday that she will challenge Gov Andrew Cuomo in New York’s Democratic primary in September.

Her announcement Monday sets up a race pitting an openly gay liberal activist against a two-term incumbent with a $30 million war chest and possible presidential ambitions

It sets up a longshot bid pitting an openly gay liberal activist who has never held political office against a two-term incumbent with a $30 million war chest and possible presidential ambitions.

Her campaign website said Nixon won’t accept any corporate contributions and will limit contributions from any individual or organization to $65,100 for the election cycle.

“We want our government to work again. On health care, ending massive incarceration, fixing our broken subway,” Nixon says in a video announcing her candidacy: “We are sick of politicians who care more about headlines and power than they do about us.”

A Siena College poll released Monday showed Cuomo leading her 66%  to 19% among registered Democrats, and by a similar margin among self-identified liberals. Nixon did a little better among younger and upstate Democrats but didn’t have more than a quarter of either group.

The poll of 772 registered voters was conducted 11-16 March. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Cynthia Nixon, a 51-year-old Manhattan mother of three, is a longtime advocate for fairness in public school funding and fervent supporter of Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has frequently clashed with Cuomo on a range of issues. Her video shows her with her young son Max as she talks about being a proud public school parent.

Jefrey Pollock, pollster and political adviser to Cuomo and other prominent Democrats, said that celebrity isn’t likely to trump governing experience in the voting booth.

“Over and over in our research, Democratic primary voters say they’re not looking for an outsider because they look to Washington, D.C., and see what the outsider has meant to this country,” Pollock says.

Baruch College political scientist Douglas Muzzio said that the first task for Nixon is to launch a listening and talking tour.

“She can’t be the celebrity glamour girl,” he says. “She’s got to get out there and get exposure upstate.”

Nixon won’t be the only celebrity candidate on the New York ballot. Former Law and Order: SVU actress Diane Neal is running for Congress as an independent in a Hudson Valley district.