MANHATTAN (CN) - Exactly one week before New York’s state primary elections, the four Democratic candidates running for state attorney general jabbed and bickered in what was likely their final debate Thursday evening at New York City’s historic Cooper Union Great Hall.
New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, current U.S. Rep. Sean Maloney, activist and Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout, and former Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden aide Leecia Eve don’t differ vastly in their positions on many issues.
“You’re not going to find a lot of daylight between us on this,” Maloney said at one point, in response to a question about voting rights.
The candidates also addressed what they said were threats to New York by the Trump administration’s policies and politics.
“I’m running for attorney general because Donald Trump is a clear and present danger,” Maloney said in his opening statement.
The country is “in the midst of a constitutional crisis,” said James in hers. Teachout echoed that “we are at a true crisis moment in our democracy.”
But there were still plenty of heated moments. Maloney, Eve and James all took digs at Teachout, an “outsider” candidate who has picked up endorsements from The New York Times, the Buffalo News, the New York Daily News and The Nation. James has the backing of the state Democratic Party machine. While there is no clear favorite in the race, James and Teachout seem to have a slight upper hand.
Maloney and Teachout also engaged in biting back-and-forth over a lawsuit Teachout filed earlier Thursday against Maloney, his treasurer, and his federal and state committees. The suit alleges Maloney violated campaign finance laws by transferring $1.4 million from his congressional campaign to his attorney general campaign. Maloney is running for both positions simultaneously.
The candidates all spoke at length about money, especially campaign funds and tax returns. In response to a question about big real estate donors to her campaign, James said she was “unbought and unbossed, in the spirit of Shirley Chisholm.”
“I will not be disadvantaged and I do not want to unilaterally disarm,” she said, a talking point she has used before - that it’s harder for minority candidates to earn funds. She assured the room she’s not afraid to sue even her supporters and endorsers, however.
Before the debate, members of the audience flocked to photograph the candidates onstage as if they were rock stars. During the 90-minute event, the engaged crowd booed, laughed and shouted. Moderator Brian Lehrer, a radio host at WNYC, praised attendees for their civic engagement. But he also asked the candidates to explain why the office mattered - voter turnout tends to be lower in midterm and primary elections.
“Why should voters care about this job?” Lehrer asked.
Teachout pointed to what she called a “crisis of corruption in Albany” and to a changing judiciary, as the Trump administration selects federal judges and its Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces confirmation hearings in Washington.
“The New York attorney general will have to be the regulator of last resort,” Teachout said. “We are going to be facing new and complex legal challenges that we have not faced before.”
James also pointed to the need to stamp out corruption, as well as addressing infrastructure issues, environmental racism and the New York City housing crisis.