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Kristin Davis: "Vote Homo, Not Cuomo"

New York's Independent gubernatorial candidate Kristin Davis is calling out Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo for not doing enough for gay rights -- and she's coined a clever slogan in doing so.

"It's outrageous that New York has not legalized same-sex marriage," Davis says in a new ad. "Andrew Cuomo says he supports it, but when the marriage equality bill was before the Senate, he was asked to call three undecided Democratic senators and declined. A vote for me sends a strong message to Cuomo: we demand gay marriage now."

Davis caps off her message with a catchy tag line: "Vote Homo, not Cuomo."

The catch-phrase harkens back to a campaign slogan used by some supporters of Mario Cuomo, Andrew Cuomo's father, in the 1977 New York mayoral election against Ed Koch: "Vote for Cuomo, not the homo." (The reference was to rumors about Koch's sexuality.)

Davis, known as the "Manhattan Madam" for her claims to have paired disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer with prostitutes, is running on a platform of legalizing marijuana and casinos. She's not the first candidate to attack Cuomo for his position on gay issues.

Republican candidate Carl Paladino earlier this month defended his own disparaging remarks about homosexuality and in the process criticized Cuomo for taking his daughters to a gay pride parade.

The New York gubernatorial race has a number of colorful candidates, including Jimmy McMillan, a former postal worker running as a member of the "Rent Is 2 Damn High" party.

CBSNews.com Special Report: Campaign 2010

Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of her posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.
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