Astorino campaign launches first statewide ad

ALBANY –

With less than two months to go until Election Day, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino has hit the airwaves with his first statewide advertisement.

The television ad is airing on both broadcast and cable networks statewide, according to Astorino's campaign. Jessica Proud, an Astorino spokeswoman, declined to confirm the total size of the ad buy, but said it is "in the seven figures."

The 30-second spot opens with a narrator asking viewers if they "ever wonder why it's hard living in New York, affording property taxes or what a layoff would mean," speaking over sepia-toned images of people looking at bills, arguing in a kitchen and looking on with concern as a child plays in a yard.

The narrator then knocks Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "failed policies and corruption" before the ad pivots to a full-color image of Astorino – the Westchester County executive – with his family of five.

"Rob Astorino hears you and help is on the way," the narrator says. "Change begins by changing governors."

The ad is Astorino's second television spot of the 2014 campaign, though his first one aired for a short time in Buffalo and limited upstate markets earlier this year.

Cuomo, on the other hand, has used his vast campaign coffers to air millions of dollars' worth of advertisements over the past several months touting his time in office. That includes $1.2 million in ads within a three-week period in August alone.

The incumbent governor has also raised money for and contributed to the state Democratic Committee, which he controls. The committee has aired statewide advertisements in heavy rotation that attack Astorino's record as county executive and label him as an ultraconservative, including more than $500,000 worth in August.

Astorino has been critical of the advertisements, particularly one that accuses him of "racketeering, conspiracy and fraud" and is based on a still-pending lawsuit by the Westchester County Independence Party.

Astorino faces an uphill climb for the governor's office, trailing Cuomo, a Democrat, in public-opinion polls and campaign fundraising.

A Quinnipiac University poll late last month showed Cuomo with a 28 percentage-point lead over Astorino, who as of mid-July had $2.4 million in his campaign account. In late August, Cuomo had about $30.6 million in his campaign warchest.

Cuomo earned about 62 percent of the Democratic primary vote Tuesday, though he did little by way of traditional campaigning in advance of the vote. Zephyr Teachout, a little-known law professor who spent less than $1 million on her campaign, garnered about 34 percent of the vote.