Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics that for months, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has argued, through his attorney Rita Glavin, that he never sexually harassed any of the women who have accused him of inappropriate behavior. Less than a year after his resignation after 11 accusations of sexual harassment, he is now dipping into his campaign funds to pay for TV ads in an effort to restore his image. Cuomo will release a statewide TV ad attempting to repudiate the claims leveled against him. "The governor hasn't challenged the credibility of a number of them," Glavin said this month. "What they are alleging simply doesn't rise to the level of sexual harassment." The ad is expected to air statewide and the cost will exceed six figures. It is not clear what the content of the ads will be, and a spokesperson for Cuomo said multiple versions are being considered. In addition to the allegations of sexual harassment, Cuomo and his administration were accused of undercounting nursing home fatalities during the pandemic, as well as public accusations of bullying and a toxic working environment within his office. Some observers like Syracuse University Public Affairs Professor Grant Reeher say Cuomo's timing raises questions. "Frankly, this is another way in which Andrew Cuomo reminds me of Donald Trump — the inability to accept political defeat, political failure," he said. Cuomo resigned in August weeks after a report detailing allegations by 11 women of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. His image has been battered in the court of public opinion, but Marist pollster Lee Miringoff said the former governor still has a lot of work to do to convince voters. Miringoff said, "He has a very defined image — for good and for bad and the question is how does he reshape that? That's hard to do when he's been on the stage for as long as he has." Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.