It’s hard to imagine two Democrats being more ideologically different than Jumaane D. Williams and Thomas R. Suozzi. But for an hour on Tuesday night, they put all that aside in favor of a shared mission: to push Governor Kathy Hochul from an apparent slide to a full term as governor.
With three weeks left until Primary Day, the two Democrats threw everything they could at Ms Hochul. They blamed her for doing too little to cope with high crime rates and mob violence, accused her of selling taxpayers into a beloved stadium deal for her hometown of Buffalo Bills, and compared her to her disgraced predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo.
“She pledged to make it the most ethical, the most transparent government in New York State history,” said Mr. Suozzi, a central congressman from Long Island. “And that just didn’t happen.”
Both candidates repeatedly accused Ms. Hochul of being held to special interests, from Delaware North, the hospitality and gambling company that employs her husband, to the National Rifle Association, which once supported her in a race for Congress.
“We asked for $1 billion for gun violence,” said Mr. Williams, New York City’s left-wing public advocate. “What we got was $1 billion to build the stadium that her husband had hired.”
The result was a disjointed debate — the first major contest involving the three Democratic candidates for governor — in which face-to-face confrontations often obscured the candidates’ competing views of New York.
With a commanding lead in the polls and a firm grip on the powers of the governor’s office, Ms. Hochul tried to avoid the argument. She was determined to breathe life into the attacks of her adversaries and establish herself as a guardian of liberal values at a time when some rights, and democratic seizure of power, appear to be under national threat.
She spoke enthusiastically about a package of gun laws she signed into law Monday in response to a spate of mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde, Texas and elsewhere, and vowed to make New York a national leader for abortion rights if the Supreme Court overturns federal protections. in Roe v. Wade down this month, as expected.
“No governor has done more in less time to tackle gun violence,” she said, adding later, “We led the nation.”
But Ms Hochul, who took office less than a year ago after her predecessor stepped down, still spent much of the night on the defensive, trying to explain past stances and actions her fledgling administration had taken on guns, crime and her ethical record.
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She said the return on the $600 million the state has pledged to contribute to the new Buffalo Bills stadium would “far exceed the investment,” which she called a priority for Western New York. Ms Hochul also said her husband had nothing to do with the deal and defended his ethical record.
“They literally sell beer and hot dogs during the games,” she said, referring to Delaware North, which makes concessions at Bills stadium.
She didn’t try to evade her previous support from the NRA, but when she was repeatedly challenged by Mr. Suozzi – “Only one of us here has ever been approved by the NRA,” he said — suggesting her track record over the past few weeks showed her views have evolved.
“Judge me by what I’ve done,” she said. “A lot of people have evolved since I took that position. Do you know what we need? More people to develop.”
She acknowledged that the charges against her elected Lieutenant Governor Brian A. Benjamin had been a “disappointment” and a setback in her efforts to restore confidence in Albany after years of corruption charges and Mr. Cuomo’s resignation in in light of increasing sexual harassment allegations.
And she backed modest changes included in this year’s $220 billion state budget to strengthen bail restrictions and tighten rules on repeat offenders.
Mr. Suozzi has once again pilloried the governor for not moving forward at a time of heightened fear of crime in New York City, by allowing judges to consider a defendant’s “dangerousness” when determining of the bail.
“The governor says she cares about crime, she wants to tackle crime, but she is doing nothing to restore bail reform,” he said Tuesday evening, stressing that fighting gun violence and cutting taxes would be his top priorities. .
But Mrs. Hochul did not give in.
“What we gave the judges is better than this vague term that can sometimes be subjective and used against a person because of the color of their skin,” she said.
Among the personal barbs, there were marked differences in policy views, particularly between Mr. Williams, 46, a New York City progressive, and Ms. Hochul, 63, and Mr. Suozzi, 59, more moderate lawmakers with suburban roots.
Mr. Williams said he would be in favor of extending voting rights to green card holders in cities across the state, as New York City recently did. Mr Suozzi and Mrs Hochul said no.
Mr Williams also repeatedly urged the state to take a more aggressive approach to combating climate change. He said he would immediately implement a congestion pricing plan in New York City championed by environmentalists, which Mr Suozzi and Ms Hochul said should be delayed.
“Climate change was a terrible failure in this legislature,” Mr. Williams, pointing out that lawmakers and the governor had failed to provide additional funding to meet the state’s ambitious climate goals.
The debate was a major test for Ms Hochul, who, despite her clear lead, should not yet arouse the kind of enthusiasm among voters that would ensure her victory in the June 28 primaries and in this fall’s general election.
A new poll released earlier Tuesday by Spectrum News NY1 and Siena College found that just 35 percent of New York City residents had seen Ms. Hochul rated “excellent” or “good”, compared to 36 who rated her performance as “fair”. and 18 percent who said it was “bad.”
With only 21 days to go, Ms Hochul continues to lose the main race. The state’s powerful Democratic establishment has united around the governor’s campaign, bolstering it with endorsements and five-figure checks, so that she enters the final stretch with an unparalleled stash of cash, $18.6 million at last count.
The debate offered some moments of frivolity and even the supernatural.
At one point, Mr. Suozzi, who loves speed dialing from reporters and supporters, said he couldn’t live without his cell phone, and Mr. Williams claimed to have a penchant for theater.
When asked whether they would support former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign for a seat in the New York City House, all three candidates grinned. No chance.
But the candidates were more receptive to talking about their communication with the afterlife when one of the moderators, Maurice DuBois of WCBS-TV, asked if they believed in ghosts.
“No. However, I believe in ghosts,” Mr. Suozzi said. “Yes, I think so.”
Mr. Williams said he believed in an afterlife, and the current governor said she also found strength in the afterlife.
“I talk to my mom all the time,” she said. “So yes, I do communicate with someone who is no longer with us.”
Four Republicans competing for their party’s nomination for governor will debate for the first time next week. They include Representative Lee Zeldin, Andrew Giuliani, Harry Wilson and Rob Astorino.
