ALBANY, N.Y. — Closing the chapter on a lengthy and bitter exchange, the Republican candidate for governor, Representative Lee Zeldin, has agreed to debate Gov. Kathy Hochul this week.
The debate — the only one before the general election on Nov. 8 — will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and hosted by Spectrum News NY1.
That even one debate would be held has been a matter of some contention. Mr. Zeldin had previously challenged Ms. Hochul to a series of debates, but she agreed to this single one.
Mr. Zeldin refused to accept the date in protest, noting that because it came so late, many voters would already have received and filled out absentee ballots. But Ms. Hochul held firm, and on Sunday, Mr. Zeldin agreed to appear.
When asked on Sunday on Channel 7’s “Up Close” about her refusal to agree to additional dates, Ms. Hochul noted that a single debate was not unusual for New York governor’s races.
“I also want to point out, I’m still running the state of New York government. I don’t have time to stand on a street corner screaming into the wind,” Ms. Hochul said.
Previous governors have also played hardball with debate scheduling — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was notoriously reluctant to debate challengers. But unlike previous incumbents Ms. Hochul has not yet been elected to the office of governor, having ascended from the lieutenant governorship only after Mr. Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment.
Mr. Zeldin has repeatedly accused Ms. Hochul of avoiding the debates to avoid answering questions about her record, a line of attack he reprised in his statement Sunday. Even so, he said, did not intend to “let her off the hook.”
Jerrel Harvey, a spokesman for the Hochul campaign, welcomed the news that Mr. Zeldin would debate, saying: “Governor Hochul looks forward to highlighting her strong record of delivering results and exposing Lee Zeldin’s dangerous lies.”
The debate will be held at Pace University in Manhattan and will be available to New York viewers on Spectrum news channels and will be moderated by Susan Arbetter and Errol Lewis.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
