Governor Andrew Cuomo and his main challenger, Republican Rob Astorino, held their first and only debate in Buffalo Wednesday, where they were joined by two minor party candidates. NY1′s Zack Fink filed the following report.
BUFFALO – Governor Andrew Cuomo wasted no time drawing a sharp contrast between himself and Republican candidate Rob Astorino.
“This is my point. The ultra-conservative philosophy that is being put forth by Mr. Astorino I think disrespects women because it takes away a woman’s right to choose,” Cuomo said.
Astorino shot right back, bringing up the governor’s premature disbanding of the anti-corruption panel known as the Moreland Commission. The disruption of Moreland is now under investigation by the US Attorney.
“So you’re looking at Andrew Cuomo the rest of tonight, you will see a person who very well may be indicted after this Election Day comes and goes for witness tampering, obstruction of justice,” Astorino said.
It was the addition of a minor party candidate, Libertarian Michael McDermott, who kept things lively, like an unmoored answer about Common Core education standards.
“Listen, eight plus six is 14!” he said.
On the controversial natural gas drilling procedure known as fracking, Astorino slammed Cuomo for failing to make a decision on whether to allow it.
“I won’t be politically paralyzed like this governor is,” Astorino said. “Thirty-five states have natural gas. Thirty-four are safely drilling, and their economies are booming.”
Cuomo defended his record as governor, but also went after Astorino for his leadership in Westchester as county executive.
“They are the number one taxed county in the United States of America,” Cuomo said. “Property taxes went up 8 percent, and the county was downgraded.”
Also participating in the four-way debate was Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins. Cuomo negotiated the terms of the debate, including which candidates would be included, something McDermott reinforced in his opening statement.
“I especially want to give a special thanks to Governor Cuomo for insisting that I be here. If not for him, I probably would not be here. Thank you, governor,” McDermott said.
This was the first and only debate scheduled among the candidates. Astorino and Cuomo were also expected to have a one-on-one debate that was radio only, but Astorino canceled it when Cuomo would not agree to allow TV cameras.
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