As part of his re-election campaign, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has visited both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in an attempt to bolster his chances among the state's large Puerto Rican and Dominican populations as well as the rest of the Latino community.

Cuomo first flew to Puerto Rico where he met Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla and emphasized that, if reelected, he would strengthen the economic links between the Empire state and the U.S. territory, according to The Associated Press.

"We will be bringing more business relationships to build on the cultural relationships we already have," Cuomo said of his Global New York program and a state import-export initiative to develop markets for New York businesses.

He also empathized with Puerto Rico's continued economic woes -- the island has a public debt of $73 billion and remains in recession.

Gov. Garcia encouraged New York Latinos to vote for Democrats these upcoming elections for the DREAM Act to succeed. Gov. Cuomo added that New York's version of the bill failed because of lack of support in the state legislature.

In the Dominican Republic, Gov. Cuomo met with President Danilo Medina and reiterated how he plans to strengthen New York's economic relations with the Caribbean nation.

"I always felt a special connection with the Dominican Republic," Cuomo said. "In New York, the Dominican community has been growing and is becoming more and more important economically and politically, and is this development that we want to encourage and continue."

However, Gov. Cuomo's trip so close to election date has gained him criticism from his opponent, Republican Robert Astorino, who was campaigning in the Bronx.

"He'd rather be hanging out at the presidential palace in the Dominican Republic than hanging out like I am with Dominicans in New York," he said, according to the New York Daily News.

"It's not just something I'm doing for the first time today," said Astorino, referring to his appearances in minority neighborhoods. "I've been doing it all campaign."

Among the voices attacking Gov. Cuomo was Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz, who has endorsed Astorino and criticized the governor for not taking state legislators aboard his private plane when he visited the Caribbean.

New York has the highest population of Puerto Rican and Dominican immigrants and descendants in the U.S. with one million and 600,000, respectively, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

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