NY governor debate: What to expect and how to watch Hochul-Zeldin tonight
Months of campaigning could all come down to this one debate — exactly two weeks ahead of Election Day and with the race nearly neck and neck — for Republican gubernatorial challenger Lee Zeldin and incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul.
“He needs to make news, dominate and come across as strong and gubernatorial,” GOP operative Chapin Fay, a former Zeldin adviser, told The Post.
“He has to hang crime around her neck like a scarlet letter. Just months ago she boasted how cashless bail, ‘Raise the Age’ and ‘Less is More’ have all been successful policies,” said City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island), a spokesman for a pro-Zeldin super PAC.
The hour-long debate hosted by Spectrum News-NY1 at Pace University will begin at 7 p.m. and will also air live on WNYC.
“Inside City Hall” host Errol Louis and “Capital Tonight” anchor Susan Arbetter will serve as moderators.
With polls showing a single-digit and even dead-heat race, political watchers expect Zeldin to put Hochul on the defensive on rising crime and inflation while facing counterattacks on issues like abortion and his votes to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
“It’s less about Lee Zeldin needing a breakout moment as much as he needs several moments to reassure New Yorkers that he is not the extreme candidate that Gov. Hochul is projecting him as,” GOP strategist Susan Del Percio said.
The right messaging might even resonate with voters who might not normally support a Republican candidate in New York, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by roughly two-to-one.
Hochul also has a big fundraising advantage over Zeldin, who is aiming to become the first Republican elected statewide in two decades despite the historic headwinds against him.
“It is really a referendum on her and it’s up to Lee Zeldin to show that he may not be the answer that most Democrats in the state would like ideally, but he’s the best option given the direction the state is heading,” she added.
Political experts say both candidates need to avoid gaffes while sticking to issues that polling shows are at the top of voters’ minds.
“Speak to those independent voters on the issues they claim to care about — inflation and crime,” Democratic political consultant Jake Dilemani said of Hochul.
“For Zeldin: The potential tightness of this race shows that in a general election in New York, if you’re a Republican statewide candidate, be more like Nelson Rockefeller and less like Barry Goldwater,” Dilemani added, naming the famous moderate governor and famed conservative who lost the 1964 presidential election by a historic landslide.
Zeldin faced an onslaught of attacks during his primary debates against Republican rivals like former White House aide Andrew Giuliani and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.
“Don’t go after her personally,” advised Astorino, the 2014 GOP nominee for governor.
“There’s some room to link Hochul’s and Cuomo’s corruption scandals,” Giuliani said in reference to disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Hochul loyally served for years before replacing him last year following his resignation amid multiple scandals.
But a badly timed attack or misplaced gimmick can be costly — as former Rep. Rick Lazio learned in his 2000 US Senate race against Hillary Clinton, whom he infamously tried to pressure into signing a pledge on stage to limit her campaign contributions.
“It is critical that he does not try to pull any stunts,” Del Percio said.
