Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing growing calls among fellow Democrats in New York to resign after a third woman accused him of sexual harassment and misbehavior. 

Other lawmakers, meanwhile, said the third allegation by Anna Ruch that Cuomo made unwanted sexual advances at a 2019 wedding should expedite the investigation now in the hands of Attorney General Letitia James. 

Cuomo is facing a deepening crisis that threatens to end his decade-long tenure as the nation's longest-serving governor, nearly 13 years to the day after his one-time rival, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, stepped down amid a prostitution scandal. 

Ruch's allegation comes after two former aides in the Cuomo administration last week separately claimed the governor sexually harassed them. Cuomo has flatly denied the allegations of Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development official and current candidate for Manhattan borough president, who wrote in an essay last week the governor gave her an unwanted kiss on the mouth and once suggested they play strip poker with other people present. 

But Cuomo on Sunday after the allegations of another former aide, Charlotte Bennett, said in a statement he sometimes attempts to make jokes in the workplace and apologized to anyone who felt uncomfortable. 

Ruch's allegations are different: The incident occurred at a 2019 wedding. Ruch never worked for the governor. A photo published by The New York Times Monday night shows Cuomo holding the side of Ruch's head, his face lit up in red and a clearly uncomfortable expression on her face. 

As of Tuesday morning, Rep. Kathleen Rice had become the most prominent Democrat in the state to call for Cuomo's resignation after Ruch's story became public in the Times. 

"The time has come," Rice wrote on Twitter posting the Times' article. "The governor must resign."

Rice's call for resignation is significant for several reasons: She is a former Nassau County district attorney, representing a suburban Long Island district in a part of the state that has been a political stronghold for the governor. She also was appointed by Cuomo to serve as a co-chair of the anti-corruption Moreland Comission. 

Cuomo has dwindling allies among elected officials in the state Legislature or New York City Council.

A separate nursing home controversy stemming from the state undercounting where long-term care facility residents died during the pandemic and that administration officials withheld information from becoming public, paired with allegations Cuomo threatened critic Assemblyman Ron Kim in a phone call, has made matters all the more tenuous for the governor.

Ben Kallos, a member of the New York City Council and candidate for city comptroller tweeted, "Resign."

"It’s time for Governor Cuomo to resign," wrote Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas on Twitter.

"I’ve seen more than enough as well: .@NYGovCuomo needs to resign," wrote Sen. Gustavo Rivera, the top Democrat on the Senate Health Committee.

Sen. Jessica Ramos told the magazine City & State, "the governor needs to resign." 

And Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who has already called on Cuomo to step aside, reiterated the call on Monday night. 

"We can insist that he step down, even while we wait on the results of the full investigation happening now," she said. 

But other lawmakers said they would continue to wait for the outcome of James' investigation, but signaled they were anxious to see the results.

"Starting with the first allegation, I called for an independent & timely investigation," said Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, a Democrat from the Albany area, in a text Monday evening. "I’m going to stay with that but we sure need to do it in double time.”

"The pattern of behavior described by the women who have bravely spoken out suggests that Governor Cuomo does not see these women as equals," said Sen. Jeremy Cooney, a Democrat who represents the Rochester area. "This is not playful teasing, but disturbing and offensive conduct. Our democracy demands we hold our elected officials to the highest ethical standards, and these allegations are in clear violation of those standards. I call for an expedited investigation by the Attorney General.”