By Michael Benjamin
Oswego, NY – Democratic candidate for governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo is visiting Central New York as Election Day nears. He was in Syracuse earlier Thursday, and visited Bridie Manor in Oswego before heading off to another event in Palmyra.
Cuomo has more than a 20 point lead over his Republican opponent in the governor's race, Carl Paladino, according to recent polls. Paladino has drawn criticism for a number of controversial remarks he's made during his campaign for governor, including telling a group of Jewish community leaders in Brooklyn that children are being "brainwashed" into thinking it's okay to be homosexual.
"The more our opponent speaks, frankly, the better we do," Cuomo said today in Oswego.
Current governor, David Paterson, announced today he plans to lay off 898 state workers before the end of the year. Cuomo said layoffs are always tough, but he says Paterson's decision was financially necessary. Cuomo is also the current New York State Attorney General.
"We talk about numbers," Cuomo said today, "these are families, right? These are mothers, these are fathers, these are children. So it's a very painful situation, but the governor believes that the numbers mandate it. As attorney general, I'll be defending these actions in court, and it's a very unfortunate circumstance, as I said, but it's a reality."
Cuomo said he's confident in his campaign going into Election Day, but he said he's not taking anything for granted.