Albany

Zephyr Teachout's still-undeclared candidacy for Congress got a major boost Saturday when a majority of Democratic county leaders in the sprawling 11-county 19th District endorsed the law professor, author and 2014 gubernatorial candidate over three other candidates after a series of interviews.

"Yeah, that was pretty amazing," Teachout said in an interview Monday.

She called it a "great meeting," one in a series she's had with the district's Democratic leaders since Ulster County Executive Mike Hein decided against running for the House seat. Incumbent Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, announced a year ago he would not seek a fourth term.

Teachout, who mounted a robust left-flank attack on Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014, has not yet formally announced her candidacy. "I have committed to making commitments in the next week," she said. ''I have to check my checkbook — I'm not wealthy."

Teachout is a Fordham Law School faculty member — she recently won tenure — and author of "Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United." Since last spring, she has been living in the Dutchess County community of Dover Plain and commuting to the city.

Teachout said she's prepared to face the same sort of carpetbagging charges that were deployed against Gibson's 2014 Democratic opponent, Sean Eldridge, the husband of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Despite spending heavily on the race, Eldridge lost badly to Gibson.

Teachout noted that she grew up in Vermont, in a region that combined rural areas with the sort of small communities that make up much of the 19th District.

Her peripatetic ways became an issue in her 2014 run against Cuomo, whose campaign brought a lawsuit in an attempt to prove she hadn't lived in New York long enough to be eligible to run for governor. The action was tossed following a trial in Brooklyn.

In the September 2014 Democratic primary, Teachout performed exceedingly well in the 19th District, winning the seven counties that lie entirely within its borders — Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster — and three of the four counties that are partially contained (Dutchess, Montgomery and Rensselaer); Cuomo prevailed in Broome County. The governor's strong support in New York City and western New York gave him a win of almost 2-to-1 statewide.

The other candidates who spoke to the Democratic county chairs on Saturday were lawyer Julian Shreibman, who lost to Gibson in 2012; Columbia County farmer and environmental advocate Will Yandik; and Margot Miller, a Democratic Party activist who currently lives in England.

Teachout won the majority of the county chairs' support, said Rensselaer County Democratic Chairman Tom Wade. He declined to provide the final tally.

Wade said the candidates discussed local issues — job creation chief among them — as well as national topics. "I look at the demographics more than any localized issue," he said.

Teachout "comes into the race with more name recognition that anyone else," Wade said. ''I think she's a good fit — she's very, very bright."

On Monday, Yandik said in a statement he would continue to explore his options and talk to local Democrats.

"This is my home," he said. "I grew up here and I believe strongly that our next member of Congress must understand and connect with the communities in every county."

If she declares, Teachout would be the second failed New York gubernatorial candidate in the race: Republican John Faso, a former Assemblyman who lost to Eliot Spitzer in 2006, joins a GOP field that also includes businessmen Andrew Heaney and Robert Bishop. Schoharie County Assemblyman Pete Lopez dropped out of the race earlier this month.

The Republicans, who have been circling each other for months, have raised prodigious sums: Heaney's campaign said earlier this month it would report $761,600 in its next federal filing; Faso expected to report having $624,000 in his campaign coffers.

cseiler@timesunion.com • 518-454-5619 • @CaseySeiler