(Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY) Today, dozens of local residents are gathering at State Senator Marty Golden's office in Bay Ridge to demand campaign finance reform. They will be submitting letters written by more than 500 of his constituents asking him to support fair elections. Golden's opponent in November, attorney and Democratic candidate Andrew Gounardes, will speak at a 12:00 p.m. press conference. He released the following statement:

"Today, local residents announced that more than 500 of our neighbors here in southern Brooklyn have written letters telling Marty Golden to support campaign finance reform. This surge of support for reform is driven by the same reasons that I decided to run for office: voters are fed up with politicians being distracted by dollar signs and shiny things. They're tired of the abuse and corruption. And this year, they're going to do something about it.

For too long, elected officials have acted as if their constituents are stupid or oblivious to the way their government functions. Despite working in one of the most dysfunctional state governments in America, Albany politicians have done everything in their power to put off, delay, and water down election reform. Why? Because they're the ones benefiting from it most! My opponent Marty Golden, for example, raised 68% of the campaign funds he reported in January from corporations and PACs, not living, breathing constituents. In our current system and with our current State Senator, money isn't raised from and thus the agenda isn't set by the people of southern Brooklyn. Thankfully, the times are changing.

I call on Marty Golden to listen to the people who elected him and take the lead in passing the Campaign Finance Reform Act. If he won't, voters from Bay Ridge to Marine Park have the chance to voice their displeasure in November by electing a candidate who thinks New Yorkers deserve an ethical and honest state government."

Learn more about Andrew's plans for reform at www.andrewgounardes.com/reform.

(Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY) Last night, Senator Marty Golden held his Teacher of the Year event, an annual attempt to curry favor with a constituency that he regularly demonizes. Unfortunately for Golden, Brooklyn's teachers know that he is no friend of education. Today, the campaign of Democratic candidate Andrew Gounardes, Golden's opponent in November, took him to task:

"Another week, another empty gesture by Marty Golden," said campaign manager Chris McCreight. "After spending the past few months sitting on his hands while our kids had their schools closed and youth services slashed, Senator Golden is desperately trying to repair his frayed relationship with people who care about education. He thinks that handing out honorary certificates to teachers will make them forget that he failed to bring home $10 million in new resources just last month."

"Andrew, on the other hand, has been building a strong relationship with local teachers," McCreight continued. "He's met with them and heard their concerns about an education bureaucracy that demonizes teachers while saddling them with even more responsibility. Come Election Day, the candidate who best understands our schools' needs, not the one who pays lip service, will win the votes of this community."

On Tuesday afternoon, the New York State Assembly passed important legislation raising the minimum wage to $8.50. While nearly 80 percent of New Yorkers support this commonsense legislation, State Senate Republicans continue to block the bill from moving forward. Today, attorney Andrew Gounardes called on Senator Marty Golden to stand up for his most economically vulnerable constituents, nearly 25% of whom live in poverty.

“Let's be clear: Senator Golden and his Republican colleagues are sitting on their hands while New Yorks's lowest paid workers are struggling just to feed their kids and afford healthcare," Gounardes said. "This is a modest increase. At $8.50 an hour, a minimum wage worker in Brooklyn can still barely pay the rent."

"If Marty Golden really wanted to 'reinvigorate the economy,'" Gounardes continued, "he would use his position in the Senate leadership and his economic development council seat to lead the fight for higher wages. Instead, he continues ignoring the real concerns of middle class families and small businesses, which suffer because ordinary people can't afford quality products." New York's minimum wage has only increased 10 cents per hour in the past five years.

Gounardes added that the Senator's silence on the issue is deafening. "Senator Golden plans to spend more money on this campaign than most of his constituents make in ten years. He needs to tell them exactly where he stands and why he isn't doing more to give hard-working Brooklynites the wage increase they've earned."

In a Siena Research Institute poll conducted this week, voters across New York overwhelmingly supported an increase in the minimum wage. According to the poll, voters of all persuasions recognized the importance of legislation that will create jobs and help New Yorkers support their local businesses.

(Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY) This week, the Daily News reported that the NRA had given more than $200,000 to Republicans in the New York State Senate to defeat a microstamping proposal supported by Mayor Bloomberg. In light of the recent spate of shootings in New York City, gun safety proponents like State Senate candidate Andrew Gounardes are encouraging legislators to take another look at microstamping:

"Eight New York City police officers have been shot this year while bravely protecting their fellow New Yorkers. We owe them our deepest and humblest thanks for putting their lives on the line to keep us safe. But they deserve more than gratitude. They deserve action.

State Senator Jose Peralta has spent months pushing hard to pass a microstamping bill in the Senate that would strengthen law enforcement's hand against gun violence by requiring bullet casings to be imprinted with the make, model, and serial number of the gun from which they were fired, making them easier to trace.

Unfortunately, Senate Republicans funded by the National Rifle Association have worked even harder to prevent it from becoming law. Marty Golden went so far as to walk out of the Senate chamber in 2010 and skip the vote just as a microstamping bill came to the floor.

All New Yorkers, especially those in uniform, deserve representatives who put smart solutions to gun violence ahead of the concerns of the gun lobby. If Marty agrees,  it's time for him to show it."