Nice rally you have there. It’d be a shame if anything happened to it.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s aides and campaign staff made a round of phone calls to elected officials, asking them to not attend a rally on Thursday in support of community groups that have endorsed his opponent, Cynthia Nixon, according to eight New York City Council members who received such calls or messages and two others briefed on the effort.

The rally was held to protest what organizers described as Mr. Cuomo’s pressure tactics: They said the governor made a push for labor unions to stop funding those same community groups.

Mr. Cuomo has denied using any such pressure tactics, even as his aides pressed various Council members to boycott the rally.

The organizers of the rally included three groups — Citizen Action, New York Communities for Change and Make the Road Action — that have ties to the Working Families Party and endorsed Ms. Nixon.