Suozzi, Williams debate, but the absent Hochul is the target

In the first debate of the campaign, Democratic primary rivals on Thursday sought to change voters’ perception of Gov. Kathy Hochul, criticizing her on the issues of crime, a Buffalo Bills football stadium and what they called her lack of leadership and vision.

The gubernatorial challengers gave it to the absent governor, with Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi swinging from the moderate end of the Democratic Party and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams from the progressive wing.

Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said Hochul was not tough enough on crime and yet also too soft on guns. He also reminded voters that Hochul’s first lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, resigned after being indicted on corruption charges.

Williams said Hochul had not done enough to address the causes of crime and poverty and hadn’t used the state budget to bolster mental health and social services agencies.

The governor — with a lead in the polls, fundraising and key union endorsements — skipped the event, hosted by NY1 and Spectrum News. The Buffalo Democrat has agreed to two other forums, including one on Tuesday.

The first debate among Democrats came at a key point in the race: Just 26 days before the primary, with not much time left for challengers to rev up supporters. So with the vote looming, the challengers wasted little time in zeroing in on the incumbent, setting a sharp tone in their opening statements.

“Sixty-nine percent of New Yorkers say Kathy Hochul is failing on crime; 63% say she’s failing on the economy,” Suozzi began. “Her lieutenant governor was arrested on bribery charges and yet this unelected governor did not show up for this debate tonight.”

Suozzi’s statement served to underscore his main campaign themes — crime and inflation — while reminding voters Hochul became New York’s top official because Andrew M. Cuomo resigned under pressure in August. He has said her support in the polls may appear wide but is very thin — more a factor of her being in office rather than anything she’s done since taking over.

Williams said Hochul’s words and actions don’t match on several fronts, especially the environment. He said the governor calls herself “green” but failed to act on a proposed moratorium on cryptocurrency mining as environmentalists have demanded and put no money behind a climate change law she said she favors — the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

“This shows the hypocrisy of this administration,” Williams said.

Williams and Suozzi both criticized Hochul’s changed stance on guns — as a congresswoman a decade ago, she received high ratings from gun groups but since then has taken steadily more progressive positions on a range of issues. The challengers also criticized her agreement to earmark about $800 million in state money to help build a new NFL stadium in Buffalo.

Suozzi said the state needs to further change bail laws to allow judges more discretion to detain dangerous defendants. He said the state also needed to reduce taxes and regulations.

Williams called for free public higher education and better pay for faculty.

“We have the money to do this,” he said, referring to the state’s budget surplus.

Veteran Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf said Hochul skipped the first debate because she’s confident of her front-runner status.

“She feels completely unthreatened,” Sheinkopf said. “She believes she’s going to win.”

Hochul steadily has held a big lead in the Siena College poll — a 40-point lead over both Suozzi and Williams in March. But there have been warning signs for the governor.

Siena in April found Hochul’s job approval ratings plummeting — 36% of those surveyed gave her a positive rating, her lowest since taking office.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy