New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) reached an agreement to debate this week after months of dispute over terms for the meet-up.
The incumbent Democrat and her Republican gubernatorial challenger will meet face-to-face on Tuesday evening for a one-hour debate moderated by Spectrum News from the Pace University campus in New York City. Zeldin won the GOP nomination in June and proposed in August that he and Hochul face off in a series of debates across New York state.
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Hochul rejected this, instead only agreeing to one debate this coming Tuesday. Zeldin initially objected to the late October date, arguing it came after many voters would have already received and filled out absentee ballots.
Zeldin eventually gave in over the weekend, saying he would accept Hochul’s offer for this single debate this Tuesday while chastising his Democratic opponent as a “coward” for not agreeing to more.
“Kathy Hochul is a coward,” Zeldin said in a statement Sunday. “I have tirelessly called on Hochul to accept a series of debates on broadcast and across various media markets in New York to ensure voters from all corners of this state can hear about the issues that matter most to them.”
In response to the criticism, Hochul argued on ABC 7’s Up Close that participating in multiple debates would take her away from her duties as governor.
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“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,” Hochul told the local news program.
While Hochul has led Zeldin in polling, something not entirely surprising for a state as blue as New York, their numbers have tightened in recent weeks. Last Tuesday, a Quinnipiac University poll showed Hochul with a mere 4-point lead over Zeldin. Those results are noticeably tighter than other polls. Previous polls had shown Zeldin trailing by as many as 15 points.
