NEWS

Astorino: "Saturday night was the night bipartisanship died in Albany" (VIDEO)

Joseph Spector
ROC

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino ripped Gov. Andrew Cuomo's deal on Saturday with the Working Families Party, saying it was the "night bipartisanship died in Albany."

Astorino and state Republican leaders have been critical of Cuomo's agreement with the labor-backed party, saying it will lead to higher taxes and less fiscal responsibility. Cuomo in his first term had prided himself on working with Republicans who share control of the Senate.

"A group of brave Democrats had a knife put in their backs by their own governor for having the audacity to reach across the political aisle. That's really unfortunate," Astorino said in the video, speaking about the five-member Independent Democratic Conference.

"New Yorkers want bipartisanship in government, not single-party rule and sneaky backroom deals like we saw with Andrew Cuomo and the Working Families Party, a fringe group started by former ACORN leaders."

Astorino will certainly use Cuomo's deal with the New York City-based party upstate -- where the Westchester County executive will need to win to have any shot at beating the Democratic governor.

"How do you become the most corrupt and highest taxed state in America? Back room deals like Andrew Cuomo cut for himself on Saturday. New Yorkers shouldn't stand for that," Astorino said.

The state Democratic Committee fired back at Astorino, saying on Saturday Astorino accepted the endorsement of the Conservative Party, calling the party "extremist."

“This past Saturday, Rob Astorino sold out the mainstream values of New Yorkers by accepting the endorsement of the anti-woman, anti-gun safety, anti-immigrant, anti-New York Conservative Party," Democratic strategist and party consultant Hank Sheinkopf said in a statement. "Astorino’s embrace of the right-wing Conservative Party comes less than a year after he was caught by a judge for conspiring to corruptly hijack yet another third party ballot line. This latest attack is nothing more than Astorino’s attempt to cover up his ultraconservative views."