Critics are denouncing an ad released by County Executive Ed Mangano's campaign as misleading, but Mangano's team is standing by it.

The commercial released by the incumbent executive's team shows Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a 2010 news conference praising Mangano for backing the 2 percent property tax cap. "He supported a property tax cap when it was difficult to do so," the commercial says. The spot ends when the quote, "Keep it going, Ed."

News 12 showed the advertisement to several Nassau citizens, who said they felt it gave the appearance that Cuomo had endorsed Mangano. Yet Cuomo announced his endorsement of Mangano's Democratic opponent, Tom Suozzi, over the weekend.

Suozzi says he's outraged about the commercial, calling it "fraud on several levels." Beyond the endorsement issue, Suozzi says the substance of the message is misleading. "He's undermined the property tax cap and he's caused people's property taxes to go through the roof by screwing up the assessment system in Nassau County," Suozzi says.

Asked for comment, a Mangano spokesman said, "Gov. Cuomo clearly praised Ed Mangano for his strong stance on protecting residents from higher taxes. The governor's words speak for themselves."

After he endorsed Suozzi on Saturday, reporters asked Cuomo what he felt about the issue. "I work very hard to have good relations on both sides of the aisle," the governor said. "If you want to be governor of the state of New York, you have to be able to work with Democrats and Republicans."