With only 17 days left before Election Day, dozens of local residents gathered at the YWCA in Yonkers Saturday to hold a rally in support of state Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D).

In the course of the event, people signed up to hang posters and help with mailings in order to get the incumbent Democratic senator elected for a second term in the 35th District of Yonkers, Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant.

During a Thursday night debate, Stewart-Cousins? challenger, Yonkers City Councilman John Murtagh (R), argued that Albany remains dysfunctional despite the Democrats' promise of change.

?Today is day 654, and you can decide for yourself if anything has changed,? Murtagh said.

On Saturday, Stewart-Cousins defended her record on education reform and addressed the claims of her Republican opponent.

?Albany's been broken for a very long time,? Stewart-Cousins said. ?It's time for reform. It's time to take another look.?

The race in the 35th District is considered to be a potential game-changer because Republicans lead the state Senate by only one seat.