Republican governor hopefuls engage in feisty final debate

Donald Trump and Andrew M. Cuomo weren’t in Rochester Tuesday, but the two hovered over the final debate among Republican candidates for governor.

In a feisty and, at times, belligerent, 60-minute faceoff, Rob Astorino, the former Westchester County executive; Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; business owner Harry Wilson, and  Rep. Lee Zeldin at times fought over who was the most conservative, who most supported Trump policies and who would be the party’s best shot at beating a Democrat.

They also sparred heatedly when the other three repeatedly criticized Zeldin (R-Shirley) for voting for, when the now-congressman was a state senator, budget agreements with then-Gov. Cuomo. Zeldin punched back, saying he didn’t support Cuomo’s original budget proposals but rather the compromises forced by the legislature.

But, along with the substance of the arguments, the tone of the debate sponsored by Newsmax reflected the growing tensions among the candidates as the race moves into the final seven days.

They exchanged accusations of lying as well as being a moderate Republican.

“Stop being a child, Lee,” Giuliani snapped at one point. Later, he called Zeldin a “flip-flopper.”

Wilson accused Zeldin of lying regarding Zeldin allies trying to disqualify the other three from the primary ballot earlier this year.

“Everything Zeldin says is political talk,” Wilson said at one point.

Astorino said Zeldin was part of a “secret pact” of Republicans in the State Legislature who sat on their hands instead of helping his ill-fated 2014 gubernatorial campaign against Cuomo.

“It’s people in the State Senate in Albany like Lee Zeldin … that got us to this point,” Astorino said, regarding what he called out-of-control state spending.

Zeldin accused the others of lying about his record in Albany (2011-14), which he said showed he ranked 59th of 61 state senators in terms of how often he voted for a Cuomo proposal.

He bashed Astorino for losing his last three election contests and said Republicans wanted a proven winner like himself. Similarly, he said Wilson’s big pitch is he came close to winning the state comptroller election in 2010.

“I’ve won seven consecutive elections. Rob has lost three straight,” Zeldin said, later adding: “Everyone else up here is saying: “I lost but it was really close.”

Responding to Giuliani, Zeldin accused his rival of editing a news clip to make it appear he’d called Trump a racist — which Zeldin vehemently denied.

He contended his foes were ganging up on him because he is clearly the front-runner; he carries the official backing of the state party.

Astorino countered that Zeldin has won only in Republican districts and, in contrast, he was the only one to win in Democratic territory — Westchester County.

“I was elected in deep blue Westchester,” Astorino said, touting his executive experience. “I was the fiscal conservative, the staunch conservative they needed.”

On substance, the candidates didn’t disagree much.

They all supported big income tax and property tax cuts.

They all vowed to repeal state bail laws and even a wide-ranging 2014 gun-safety law known as the “Safe Act” — even though the State Legislature is, going into this year’s elections, overwhelmingly Democratic.

Asked a question about frequent mass shootings, they focused on New York’s gun laws, which they said were too restrictive. They said the focus should be on crime and mental health programs.

Near the end, the moderator asked them where on the Republican scale they would rate themselves, with the range being from Trump to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Giuliani said he was decidedly Trump. The other three deflected the question by saying he was his own man. Each said he’d support the winner of the party’s primary next Tuesday.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy