Cuomo Backs Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. in a Tight Senate Race Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who has carefully avoided saying whether he wants his own party to retake the State Senate, on Monday endorsed a Democratic state senator from Queens who is locked in a tight re-election battle. Speaking to reporters at the annual Columbus Day Parade in Midtown Manhattan, Mr. Cuomo gave his backing to Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., who is in a dead heat with City Councilman Eric A. Ulrich, a Republican, according to a poll released hours before the endorsement was announced. Mr. Addabbo is one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the Senate this year. The poll, released Monday by Siena College, found the senator to have the support of 45 percent of all likely voters, compared with a figure of 43 percent for Mr. Ulrich. The poll, conducted last week, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. Steven A. Greenberg, a Siena College pollster, noted that the tight race comes despite the large Democratic enrollment advantage in the district; Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1. "There's no question that the Democrats are going to have their hands full in trying to hold on to this seat," Mr. Greenberg said. At Mr. Cuomo's urging, Mr. Addabbo had been one of three Democratic senators who agreed last year to vote in favor of same-sex marriage after having opposed the measure in 2009, a change of position that the governor praised in explaining his endorsement. "Political courage, which is what Senator Joe Addabbo exhibited, should be encouraged, and should not be discouraged," Mr. Cuomo said. I want his constituents to know today that he is man of conscience, he is a man of integrity, he is a man of courage, and that's what you want in an elected representative - especially in Albany. Mr. Addabbo returned the praise, saying that Mr. Cuomo had "turned the page here in our state" and provided "exactly what the government needed - trust, transparency and credibility" in his time as governor. "But the work is not over," the senator added, "and I look forward to working with Governor Cuomo come 2013." Mr. Addabbo was first elected to the Senate in 2008. He previously served on the City Council, and his father, former Representative Joseph P. Addabbo, was in his 13th term in Congress when he died in 1986. As he has done before, Mr. Cuomo on Monday chose not to offer a blanket endorsement of Democratic candidates running for the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority. "I'm going to make my decisions basically the way the people of the state make their decisions - on a case by case basis," Mr. Cuomo said.