Gov. Kathy Hochul arrived to last night’s final pre-primary squall in Manhattan with endorsements from The New York Times and New York City Mayor Eric Adams in hand, along with some new polling showing hearty favorability leads among registered Democrats.
So the debate quickly became “fiery,” as promised by NBC, as Rep. Tom Suozzi and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams piled onto the frontrunner.
Suozzi goaded Hochul by talking over her answers and usurping the moderators with his own questions, at one point repeating “governor, governor, governor,” in an attempt to engage her after she noted his shifting position on the Florida parental rights law that critics have dubbed "Don’t Say Gay." Williams joined Suozzi in pivoting most of his comments to criticizing Hochul, specifically that she should be judged by her actions — or lack thereof — during her years as lieutenant governor under Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The candidates didn’t tread much new ground in their positioning or even attacks on one another, though the tone was sharper, particularly from a visibly exasperated Hochul.
“Please stop interrupting me,” Hochul said when Suozzi pressed her on the National Rifle Association endorsement she received while in Congress. “People want to hear my answer, which is: I’ve addressed this. That attack is [from] over a decade ago.”
But there were a couple new topics, including whether the candidates would accept an endorsement from Cuomo, who resigned in August amid sexual harassment allegations. Only Suozzi said that he would. “I think he is still very popular among a lot of people in New York state. While he has a lot of baggage along with what he’s done, he’s accomplished a great deal in the state of New York,” Suozzi said.
Yes, they were asked where upstate New York begins and no, none of their answers will satisfy many upstaters. We also learned the bagel orders — lox and cream cheese for Williams; poppyseed with tuna for Suozzi; cinnamon-raisin with sweetened cream cheese and sometimes maple syrup for Hochul. Thankfully none were ghastly enough to inspire a fullnewscycle of thinkpieces.
Early voting starts tomorrow, and Republican candidates for governor still have one more debate scheduled for next week.
