UPDATE: It's official. Former MSNBC TV host Dylan Ratigan jumped into the NY21 Democratic Primary at a press conference in Saranac Lake today. Ratigan's show aired on MSNBC in various forms from 2009 through 2012. He joins a crowded field of Democrats already running to challenge Republican Elise Stefanik.

PREVIOUSLY: Speculation had morphed into near certainty this morning, when Brian Mann joined Martha Foley to talk about this development.

"I have decided to run"

Martha: How do we know Dylan Ratigan is running and will this really change this Democratic primary?

: Ratigan is preparing to hold a big press event in Saranac Lake at mid-day today. But on a fundraising site, which Ratigan has acknowledged on Twitter, he’s already saying, "I have decided to run." And yeah, I think this absolutely transforms this race. We have nine or ten Democratic candidates running now it’s a packed field but no one has really broken out of the pack. Ratigan is a reasonably-name national figure in liberal politics and media. He has the potential to pull a ton of attention, money and media to this district. This is a game-changer.

Martha: Tell us a bit more about Ratigan.

Brian: He has strong family ties to the North Country. He was born in Saranac Lake. He’s really emerged as a national critic of money in politics and of the links between Wall Street and the big banks and politicians. He’s also occasionally been a really fierce critic of the Democratic Party, whose banner he hopes to fly under here. Here he is speaking on a program called The Young Turks.

Ratigan: "The reality is that the only reason we have Donald Trump as our president and these horrendous Republicans is because of the unadulterated failure and corruption in the Democratic Party. Think about how bad, how unappealing, how offensive Barack Obama and Hillary Cinton had to be to the American population in order for them to even remotely begin to choose someone like Donald Trump as a better alternative."

Martha: Okay, Dylan Ratigan there with some tough language about the party whose nomination he's now seeking. So we expect him to announce that he’s running later today. What’s the reaction from the other Democrats. Some of them have been in this race for months?

Reactions from the field

Wilson: "Who slides into this district like this with a ton of money and a ton of connections and thinks they'll be able to relate to the average person? I don't know Dylan personally. There's nothing about character here that I can speak to. I'm sure he's a wonderful man, but I don't think this is the time or the right fit."

: Our Plattsburgh correspondent Zach Hirsch talked with the other Democrats at a forum over the weekend. Many of them said the more the merrier, they welcomed the idea of yet another candidate. But some are clearly upset. Here’s Katie Wilson, a Democrat from Keene.

Emily Martz from Saranac Lake, another Democratic candidate, also put out a statement about Ratigan last night.

Martz: “We’ve had enough of self-serving, wealthy individuals taking advantage of the North Country, peddling their wealth and notoriety to bolster their own agenda."

Martha: Okay, some pushback there from some of the other Democrats in this primary. A formal announcement will come later Wednesday. We’ll have Dylan Ratigan’s own comments tomorrow here on the program.