Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is defending the views of his constituents by condemning Gov. Cuomo’s recent comments about people who he perceives as “extreme conservatives.” Hawley believes that a governor who says that a significant percentage of New York’s population has no place in the state should not be the governor.

“The governor’s comments about my constituents are offensive and are a Freudian slip which reveals what he truly thinks of upstate New Yorkers. He has no right to come to upstate New York and call himself governor when he has such obvious disdain for its people,” said Hawley. “The majority of Upstate New Yorkers is pro-Second Amendment and believes in traditional family values. If the governor does not think the good people of upstate New York have a place in New York, he seems to be doing a good job of driving our families out of the state with his highest-in-the-nation taxes and infringements on our rights.”

In an interview with a statehouse news reporter, Cuomo said of the conservatives, “Their problem is not me ………..; their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

Hawley is also using this incident to push the importance of his Two New Yorks legislation, which would place an initiative on the ballot to allow New Yorkers to vote on whether or not they want to split New York into two states. In the last year, the governor has trampled on the Second Amendment rights of the people and openly stated that those who disagree with him have no place in New York. Hawley says these actions by the governor should motivate upstate New Yorkers to defend their rights and their dignity against these attacks.