ALBANY — As New Yorkers head to the polls Tuesday and decide whether to hand Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo his third term, Republican challenger Marc Molinaro is hoping for a replay of Cuomo's father's stunning defeat as he sought a fourth term in 1994.

In a whirlwind effort over the weekend, the Dutchess County executive held 16 campaign events, ending in his hometown of Tivoli. Molinaro had another dozen public appearances scheduled for Monday.

Former Republican Gov. George Pataki, who beat Gov. Mario M. Cuomo with 48 percent of the vote in a political climate that favored Republicans at the time, joined Molinaro at a "get out the vote" event in Manhattan on Monday afternoon.

"I've known Marc Molinaro since he was the youngest mayor in America," Pataki said. " I know his ideas and vision for the state of New York and I have no doubt that he will be a terrific governor."

Molinaro's team notes that Pataki was polling 16 points behind Mario Cuomo on the closing weekend of the 1994 campaign, and the gap between the younger Cuomo and Molinaro has recently narrowed from 22 points to a 13-point lead for the incumbent, according to the latest poll from the Siena College Research Institute.

Cuomo, by contrast, toned down his campaign activity, holding just a handful of rallies over the final pre-election weekend, where he touted his eight-year record and his willingness to take on President Donald J. Trump. The governor spent the final hours of the campaign on Monday without any events scheduled, his campaign said, perhaps signaling his confidence in an impending victory.

At a campaign event in Colonie on Sunday, Molinaro, who has positioned himself as a moderate Republican and a problem solver, invoked Pataki's inaugural gubernatorial victory.

"2018 is not 1994, but 25 years ago a man you've barely heard of came to places he'd barely visited and he told you that you needed to believe again," Molinaro said, according to news reports.

Unlike Pataki, Molinaro may have to contend with a "blue wave" of engaged Democratic voters in reaction to Trump's election, which some pundits believe will enable Democrats to regain the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. The ratio of Republicans to Democrats in New York also skews much heavier in favor of Democrats than it did in 1994.

A representative for Cuomo's campaign discounted the notion that Molinaro's candidacy is similar to Pataki's 1994 run.

"Molinaro is an ultra-conservative, anti-choice, anti-immigrant, NRA A-rated Trump mini-me," campaign spokeswoman Abbey Collins said. "Pataki was pro-choice, pro-assault weapons ban and out-raised Mario Cuomo in a Republican wave year. Otherwise, exactly the same."

Correction: An earlier version of this story indicated that Mario Cuomo served two terms, rather than three.