Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a pointed message for Republican State Sen. Martin Golden at a rally Tuesday night in Bensonhurst:
"We are going to take the last Republican senator out of Brooklyn this election," the governor said.
Cuomo stumped for Democratic state Senate candidates on Long Island on Monday. On Tuesday, it was all about Brooklyn, where Andrew Gounardes is looking to defeat Golden, who has represented the south Brooklyn district covering Bay Ridge since 2003.
"Make no mistake about it: There is a lot more work to do here to make a difference in the lives of our neighbors, our community members, our coworkers, our families, our friends — everyone here in our communities," Gounardes said at the rally.
Democrats haven't held the majority in the state Senate for decades, except for a brief period nearly 10 years ago.
But backlash against President Donald Trump has many Democrats predicting a "Blue Wave" this year that could spell trouble for entrenched Republicans like Golden, whose district is majority-Democratic.
"I need Sen. Gounardes in Albany. I need him," Cuomo said. "He is smart, he gets it, he works hard, he knows the district, he will represent you."
Golden, meanwhile, was on Long Island on Tuesday with fellow Republicans to hold a second day of hearings on Cuomo's executive order last spring that granted convicted felons the right to vote.
Republicans ran this ad against Cuomo's directive: "Andrew Cuomo and his parole board are putting murderers, kidnappers, and sex offenders back on our streets," a narrator says in a part of the ad from the New York State Republican Committee.
Republicans were concerned that sex offenders would vote in schools, but according to data from the Cuomo Administration, in the Democratic primary last month fewer than 20 sex offenders were given permission to vote and only two showed up.
"Gov. Cuomo is not only making us less safe, but it's an outrageous slap in the face that he cares more about felons than law-abiding taxpayers."