Republican candidate for governor, Marc Molinaro, took his message to Buffalo on Wednesday, vowing to change the way business is done in Albany.
"I will ban individuals and entities seeking, or awarded state contracts, from donating to anyone in public office," Molinaro said. "The selling of our state ends, and it ends with me."
Former associates to Gov. Andrew Cuomo were convicted on corruption charges earlier this year, and several more with ties to Cuomo go on trial later this summer.
The governor held an event in the Finger Lakes but refused to talk to reporters afterwards. It was also learned that the Cuomo administration has spent $200,000 in legal fees fighting a freedom of information request from The New York Times.
"We have a governor who often wants to go to court. I would go to court over this," Molinaro said. "Because it is so corrosive, it is so obvious, and it is so infectious within state government, it is necessary we put it to an end."
Democrat Cynthia Nixon was off the campaign trail, but she did release a video targeting Cuomo over his failure to address sexual harassment. The video includes a testy exchange Cuomo had in December with Public Radio Reporter Karen DeWitt when he was asked what his policy is to combat sexual harassment in state government.
"When you say it's state government, you do a disservice to women, with all due's respect, even though you are a woman," Cuomo said.
Cuomo and the state legislature did pass a comprehensive sexual harassment policy for state government as part of the budget in March.
Meanwhile, Nixon has now been off the campaign trail for almost a full week, which has left some observers confused since the race is now in full swing and the primary looms in September.