5 moments that defined the gubernatorial debate

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, her Republican challenger, couldn’t stop talking over each other – or the moderators – throughout the only scheduled debate of the gubernatorial race Tuesday night. 

“What have you got to lose?” Blakeman said in an appeal to voters during his opening statement. If their performances were any indication, Hochul and Blakeman, it seemed, had everything to lose.

Both candidates came prepared for combat as they spent the bulk of the one-hour debate on Spectrum News/NY1 responding to each other rather than answering moderators’ specific questions. Each had their share of clever quips and upper cuts, but things never got personal, and at times, they even seemed to enjoy themselves. As the incumbent with a comfortable lead over her opponent, Hochul naturally had a lower bar to clear heading into the debate, needing only to steer clear of any missteps. And she seems to have succeeded. 

These are five moments that defined Tuesday night’s debate.

The 15-minute exchange on immigration

It went on longer than anyone expected but moderators Susan Arbetter and Errol Louis allowed Hochul and Blakeman to go back and forth on immigration policy nearly uninterrupted to open the debate. Immigration policy already emerged as a defining issues in the race, but a shooting by a U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement agent in New York City forced it back into the limelight, with Hochul decrying the use of force by undertrained federal agents and Blakeman criticizing state policy banning formal cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement. 

“(Blakeman) refused to condemn what ICE did,” Hochul said. “So he basically says, in the state of New York, he’d be fine if ICE agents … shoot guns into vehicles, not knowing who’s inside.” Blakeman shot back that cooperating with law enforcement would have prevented such an incident. “It never would have happened but for your sanctuary policy,” Blakeman charged, adding later, “We didn’t have any incidents in my county because we were allowed to cooperate with local law enforcement, but you took that tool away.”

While Blakeman blamed “sanctuary state” policies for permitting undocumented immigrants to remain in the state despite criminal records, Hochul used the opportunity to attack her Republican opponent for failing to condemn ICE shooting deaths of American citizens in the past two years under President Donald Trump, and for incidents in Blakeman’s own Nassau County. “To say nothing happened in Nassau County? Tell that to the man who, on camera, had his head rammed into a brick wall by ICE agents,” Hochul said. Blakeman responded with the muder of a 30-year-old woman by an undocumented immigrant in his county. “This never would have happened, Kathy, if it wasn’t for your policies.

The moment even allowed Blakeman to tout his own public safety record in Nassau as county executive, and for Hochul to hit a clearly pre-planned line of attack about how Nassau was initially named the safest county in America under Blakeman’s Democratic predecessor. All in all, it was an extended moment of civility in what wound up a contentious debate that permitted both candidates to hit rehearsed debate points.

The Cornell rape case and the voluntary intoxication loophole

A 2024 alleged gang rape at Cornell University that’s drawn national outcry has become a late flashpoint in this year’s election, and discussion about the case marked one of the debate’s most surprising moments. 

Hochul has promised to change state rape laws after a former Cornell student known as Jane Doe alleged she was raped by seven men at a fraternity house, and plans to work with the Legislature to address the state’s “voluntary intoxication loophole” that makes it more difficult to prosecute sex crimes.

Despite having been largely mum on the lack of criminal charges in the case until Tuesday night, Blakeman didn’t hesitate to tell moderators that he’d also change the law should he become governor, noting that someone doesn’t have the capacity to consent if they’re visibly impaired by drugs or alcohol.

But Blakeman then blamed Hochul for not doing enough to prevent the attack in the first place or change the university’s culture. Hochul is an ex officio member of the university’s Board of Trustees, meaning she carries political influence on the board, but does not have a formal vote.

Tensions rose when Hochul replied: “That’s pretty pathetic to blame me for what happened in a fraternity – my gosh.”

Blakeman distances himself from Trump

Blakeman clearly came into the debate with a goal in mind, and that goal was to demonstrate that he is not a “puppet” of Trump, as the Hochul campaign has accused him. That emerged in two key moments: Blakeman’s emphasis of two “very significant policy differences” between him and the president, and walking back past statements that Trump is the best president of his lifetime. On the former, Blakeman pointed to being pro-choice and to his support for a guest worker visa program for undocumented immigrants with a long history in the United States. After making sure to say that during the debate, even as moderators attempted to move on, Blakeman’s campaign posted the statement on social media as well. 

On Trump being the best president, Blakeman said that “in retrospect,” he would actually call Dwight D. Eisenhower the best president in his lifetime. The walkback came after Hochul had the chance to ask her opponent directly about his staunch support of the president on most issues. “But Donald Trump has two more years, so let’s see where it goes,” Blakeman added as an addendum to his new political ranking.

After an entire campaign of Hochul tying Blakeman to the president, the shift for Blakeman is notable. While he has not campaigned on his relationship to or support of the president, Blakeman has remained a fairly staunch defender of the unpopular Republican national leader, even rallying with him in New York as recently as last week to boost his campaign. But winning with MAGA alone is not enough to win in New York.

As an aside on this issue, Blakeman also downplayed his connection to Trump, saying the president had indeed endorsed him – but so had some high-profile Democratic activists as well.

Mamdani who?

In a surprise, Blakeman avoided mentioning New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani until the last 15 minutes of the debate, instead staying hyperfocused on attacking the incumbent Democratic governor. Blakeman first mentioned Mamdani in an apparent attempt at a quip as moderators prompted the debaters to move onto the next question. 

But he had another chance to get his digs in at the mayor after in the debate’s final 10 minutes,  when Blakeman was asked about a recent New York Times article about comments he made to Hasidic Jewish leaders regarding Mamdani. And Blakeman unleashed. “Zohran Mamdani is an antisemite, I believe he’s anti-Christian, and I don’t think he has American values” he said, making sure to tie Hochul to the mayor. After an entire debate of not mentioning the democratic socialist boogeyman who has a surprisingly cordial relationship with Trump, Blakeman made sure to use those final moments effectively.

Hochul’s labor troubles

It’s no secret Hochul’s hasn’t had the easiest go in her most recent term when it comes to labor efforts, and Blakeman made sure debate watchers knew it. At one point, moderators asked about a 56% vacancy rate among prison workers after last year’s unsanctioned wildcat correction officers’ strike that resulted in Hochul firing more than 2,000 officers. Taxpayers have paid over $1 billion for thousands of members of the state’s National Guard to man facilities (and counting).

Blakeman threw that decision in Hochul’s face. In a nod back to the governor’s frequent criticism of Blakeman for his Nassau County militia – or force of armed “citizen deputies” – Blakeman suggested her staffing solution was hypocritical: “You’re the one who used a militia, not me!” 

He took it beyond the prison strike, though, saying, “Everybody strikes under Kathy Hochul.” And he isn’t completely wrong: Hochul has endured two additional high-profile strikes this year, including a nurses strike and the short-lived Long Island Rail Road strike that briefly disrupted service this past spring.

Hochul, who has broad labor support in her reelection bid, defended her decision to fire the correction officers who refused to end their illegal strike last winter, and stood by staffing prisons with the National Guard, saying she needs to keep people inside safe while recruitment remains low.