ALBANY — Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout confirmed to the Times Union on Wednesday that she intends to launch a bid for attorney general, and will formally launch her campaign in the coming weeks.

Teachout, a constitutional law expert, will take on New York City Public Advocate Tish James and Leecia Eve, who have already announced their intentions to run for the state-wide office vacated by Eric Schneiderman earlier this month.

James, endorsed this week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, emerged from the state Democratic Committee's convention in Long Island on Wednesday as the party's designated candidate. She received more than 85 percent of the committee's weight vote, with Eve racking up about nine percent and Teachout garnering more than five percent.

Teachout says that, if elected, she would continue the office's fight against the "unconstitutional" policies of President Donald J. Trump, and would use the full force of the office to take on corporate monopolies, Wall Street excesses and corruption in state government.

"I think it's incredibly important that the next attorney general be independent and be willing to take on corruption in Albany," Teachout said, noting that she was among the first to call for the resignation of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver after his 2015 indictment.

Teachout, who ran an unexpectedly competitive primary race against Cuomo in 2014 and ran for Congress in the 19th District in 2016, formed an exploratory committee last week to raise money for a potential attorney general run. Before launching her bid, she was the treasurer of gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon's campaign. Nixon, running on Cuomo's left flank, recently won the nomination of the progressive Working Families Party, prompting several unions allied with the governor to withdraw their support from the party.

Committee members of the WFP, which nearly backed Teachout in her 2014 gubernatorial challenge, decided not to choose between Teachout and James for the attorney general seat at its convention last week, despite the fact that the public advocate — reportedly under pressure from Cuomo — said she was not seeking the party's endorsement.

The WFP has instead nominated a placeholder candidate. Committee members spoke highly of both women, indicating that they would support whichever one captured the Democratic primary.

"There are two incredible progressive women in the race and New Yorkers would be lucky to have either as Attorney General," the WFP's state director Bill Lipton said in a statement.

The party's tactic virtually ensured that James would receive the Democratic endorsement for attorney general at the Democratic convention Wednesday. But Teachout said she is confident that she will collect the signatures needed to petition her way onto the ballot and was comfortable sharing the WFP endorsement with James, observing that there would be "at least three strong women in this primary."

"We have thousands of volunteers, so I'm very confident," Teachout said. "I do think, as I said in 2014, petitioning is actually an amazing way to connect with voters."

Teachout said she was unexpectedly moved by Tuesday's legislative appointment of Attorney General Barbara Underwood, the first woman to hold the seat, which cleared the path for the three female contenders for the Democratic nomination for attorney general.

"It was a really powerful moment. We have this roiling scandal, and gender absolutely plays a role. There's a reason they called it an 'Old Boys' Club,'" Teachout said.