SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. -- Former cable host Dylan Ratigan has joined a crowded field of Democratic candidates hoping to win a Republican-held congressional seat in northern New York. 

The former MSNBC and CNBC personality and businessman announced his bid Wednesday to represent New York's 21st Congressional District.

The hotly contested seat is now held by two-term GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, a strong fundraiser whom Democrats hope could be vulnerable this year if midterm conditions favor their party.

"People are disgusted, but the indulgence of our disgust and the lack of leadership and seriousness in government, is something we can no longer allow. The risks to our country are they greatest they’ve ever been. But when the risks are high, the opportunity is equally high," Ratigan said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.

Eight or more Democrats have already expressed interest in running for the seat 

Ratigan lives in Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains and was born in nearby Saranac Lake.