HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and challenger Cynthia Nixon argued over who was the stauncher opponent of U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday in their only debate as they battle for the state’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination next month. Cuomo, who is seeking a third term as governor, promised he would not run for the U.S. presidency in 2020, despite expectations to the contrary. In often prickly exchanges over the course of an hour, Nixon, an actress and activist who is running to Cuomo’s left and trailing him in opinion polls, tried to cast the governor as acting mainly in the interests of corporate donors to his campaign. Cuomo painted Nixon, who won an Emmy for her portrayal of lawyer Miranda Hobbes on the HBO show “Sex and the City,” as inexperienced and naive about the practicalities of New York politics. Nixon came equipped with statistics and an array of policy positions on topics like rent control and transit funding, which Cuomo frequently rebuffed as flawed. He described Trump, a Republican, as “the largest threat” faced by New Yorkers, a greater danger than climate change, extreme weather or terrorism. He pointedly criticized Trump for his anti-immigration rhetoric and desire to limit access to abortion. “Nobody has stood up to Donald Trump like I have,” he said at the debate at Hofstra University on Long Island. Nixon scoffed at Cuomo’s depiction of himself as a fierce opponent of the president, who like the two candidates is a New York City native. “You stood up to him about as well as he stands up to Putin,” she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We need to oppose Donald Trump not just with rhetoric but with policy.” Slideshow ( 7 images ) Critics have accused Trump of being insufficiently critical of Putin. The debate, just over two weeks before the Sept. 13 gubernatorial primary, may have been Nixon’s best opportunity to convince voters she has a chance of upsetting Cuomo. Three polls in recent months all had her trailing Cuomo by more than 30 percentage points. ‘CAN YOU STOP INTERRUPTING?’ Nixon interrupted Cuomo’s answers on several occasions, visibly irritating him. “Can you stop interrupting?” Cuomo snapped at one point. “Can you stop lying?” Nixon shot back. “Yeah,” Cuomo said. He hesitated for a moment. “As soon as you do.” Slideshow ( 7 images ) Cuomo is the son of the late Mario Cuomo, who was a three-term New York governor and considered a liberal lion. The current governor has a long record of government service and had raised nearly 50 times more money than Nixon, according to financial disclosures filed last month. In one of the more heated exchanges, he criticized Nixon’s setting up of a corporation in order to file her income taxes, an arrangement she said was not unusual among actors and other freelance workers. He earlier objected to Nixon calling him a “corporate Democrat,” saying repeatedly: “You are a corporation,” and asking as Nixon stared back at him: “Are you a corporation?” “I’m a person,” Nixon said. Nixon said New Yorkers should vote for her because she was a longtime champion of causes such as abortion access, better funding for schools and equal rights for gay and lesbian people. The winner of the Democratic nomination will face Republican Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, in the Nov. 6 election. There are also a few independents in the race.<doc-sep>New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Democratic challenger Cynthia Nixon came out swinging in their gubernatorial debate Wednesday evening, with each taking shots at one another’s credentials as they sparred over the aging subway system, public corruption and campaign-finance reform. The debate was the one and only contest between the two before the Sept. 13 primary for governor. Mr. Cuomo seized the opportunity to criticize Ms. Nixon, a 52-year-old actor and activist who has never run for office, for her lack of experience. “The governor of New York is not a job about politics, it’s not about advocacy,” he said. “It’s about doing. It’s about management. This is real life.” Ms. Nixon said her years as an advocate for education and LGBTQ rights primed her for the position. Being governor, she said, should be measured by efficiency, not years in office. “I’m not an Albany insider, like Gov. Cuomo, but I think that experience doesn’t mean that much if you’re not actually good at governing,” she said. The debate, held at Hofstra University, aired on CBS television affiliates across New York state and on 1010-WINS radio. It was the first-ever for Ms. Nixon, who used the forum to show another side to voters who may know her best from her role on TV’s “Sex & the City.” She entered the debate an underdog: A July 18 Quinnipiac University poll puts Mr. Cuomo ahead of her by more than 30 points, leading in all voter categories. His campaign also has dwarfed hers in fundraising. As of Aug. 28, the governor spent more than $5.3 million, with more than $31 million left in his campaign account. Ms. Nixon was on the attack during the showdown, talking over the 60-year-old governor, challenging him on his record and accusing him of changing his position on marijuana legalization only after she said she supported it. “Can you stop interrupting?,” a flustered Mr. Cuomo asked during one of the many times Ms. Nixon spoke while he was answering a question from the debate host, Marcia Kramer. “Can you stop lying?” she said in response. The debate questions ranged from the toll on the new Mario Cuomo Bridge to marijuana legalization to corruption in Albany. When asked if he would delay the proposed Metropolitan Transportation Authority fare increase to help commuters, Mr. Cuomo deflected the question, saying the city and the state shared the responsibility of funding the subways. “We need the city and the state to both share the fiscal responsibility,” he said. Ms. Nixon, who has made public transportation a key issue in her campaign, said she would delay the increase. “I think it’s unconscionable that Gov. Cuomo is thinking about raising fares on a system that is working so poorly,” she said. The governor controls the subway system, she noted. “To pretend anything else is completely disingenuous.” Tomeka Robinson, an associate professor of rhetoric and public advocacy at Hofstra University, said Ms. Nixon came off as a strong contender against the governor. “By her showing that while she’s not an Albany insider but she has some very clear ideas and is very knowledgeable on state policies, budgeting and everything else, people will see her as a nice alternative to Gov. Cuomo,” Dr. Robinson said. Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo’s campaign, said Ms. Nixon tried—but failed—to get under the governor’s skin. “She showed that she didn’t have the experience or the temperament to be governor,” she said. Despite the contentious debate, the pair found one thing to agree one: They both kept their distance from the possibility of an endorsement from Mayor New York City Bill de Blasio, a fellow Democrat. “He makes his own decisions, I wouldn’t tell him what to do,” the governor, who has publicly feuded with the mayor for years, said when asked if he would accept an endorsement from Mr. de Blasio. Write to Katie Honan at Katie.Honan@wsj.com<doc-sep>Both candidates said they were in favor of postponing a subway fare increase, though they sparred repeatedly over the state of the system, as Mr. Cuomo tried to blame New York City and its mayor, Bill de Blasio, while Ms. Nixon noted the governor, not the mayor, controls the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She called his argument otherwise “disingenuous.” “He used the M.T.A. like his A.T.M.,” she said. Behind in the polls, Ms. Nixon had widely been expected to serve as the aggressor, and she was for much of the night at Hofstra University on Long Island. It was Ms. Nixon’s first-ever political debate and she delivered cutting lines with comfort and ease. In the early minutes, she hit all the key elements of her campaign: the “incredible corruption” in the Cuomo administration; the deteriorating state of the subways; the need for more equitable education funding; and what she said was Mr. Cuomo’s past support to enable Republican control of the State Senate. Of Mr. Cuomo’s lack of knowledge that one of his former most trusted advisers, Joseph Percoco, was getting paid secretly by those doing business with the state she said it was “either incompetence or corruption.” Mr. Percoco was convicted earlier this year of corruption-related charges. But Mr. Cuomo came determined to attack Ms. Nixon for her own finances. He hammered her for how many years of personal taxes she has released (five), and for routing her income through an S corporation, which he decried as a “loophole.” He returned to the topic over and over. “You are a corporation,” Mr. Cuomo accused. “I am a person,” she replied. The tax tactic seemed designed to blunt her broadsides on his corporate donors — he has $24.4 million in campaign cash as of the most recent report — as Ms. Nixon described her tax strategy as standard practice for small businesses. “Working men and women don’t have corporations,” Mr. Cuomo countered. There are just two weeks remaining in the race before an unusual Thursday election, on Sept. 13, that has both camps racing to determine who will turn out. New York is the only state in the nation this year to hold two primaries — one for federal races, and one for state and local contests — adding to the turnout X-factor.<doc-sep>The insurgent political candidate and TV star Cynthia Nixon went on the attack against the New York state governor, Andrew Cuomo, with accusations of corruption and lying when the two clashed at their first and only debate. Nixon is taking on Cuomo in yet another leftwing challenge to the Democratic establishment, following a flurry of wins by outspoken progressives, such as Andrew Gillum in Florida on Tuesday and Stacey Abrams in Georgia and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York in other recent primaries. For his part Cuomo, currently serving his second term, said that if he wins a third term he will not run for the White House in 2020. But meanwhile he described his “job” as being to “fight” Donald Trump and ridiculed Nixon’s lack of experience – she has never held political office at any level – and her claim that she was up to the task of running the US’s fourth-largest state. Sign up to receive the top US stories every morning “Part of the largest threat today is President Trump. He is attacking everything we believe in in New York. He has to be stopped. I’m going to fight with him,” Cuomo declared. Nixon countered. “When it comes to opposing Donald Trump in New York state, we already have a corrupt corporate Republican in the White House. We don’t need a corrupt corporate Democrat in Albany as his main opposition,” she said. Nixon, Broadway actor and former Sex and the City star, and Cuomo, son of the former New York Democratic governor Mario Cuomo, got into sharp spats at their debate on Wednesday evening. At one point Cuomo barked: “Can you stop interrupting?” at Nixon, who snapped back: “Can you stop lying?” Polls suggest the governor has a more than 30 percentage point lead over his opponent, who also trails substantially in fundraising. But Nixon has garnered plenty of attention with her famous name. And, with her leftwing platform of education reform and social and economic equality, she is seeking to ride a populist wave of candidates assailing establishment figures with challenges from the left. As a political ingenue who has not held office at any level before, she represents an audacious, if outside, threat to establishment figure Cuomo who has powerful standing in the party. Her campaign finally drew Cuomo into a debate at Hofstra University on Long Island. Nixon went after Cuomo early in the exchange, calling him corrupt and a liar and saying experience doesn’t matter if a politician is ineffective. “I’m not an Albany insider like Governor Cuomo, but experience doesn’t mean that much if you’re not actually good at governing,” she said, referring to the seat of New York government in the state capital. Cuomo responded that Nixon did not understand the challenges of leading the nation’s fourth largest state and lived in a “world of fiction”, while he resided in the real world where you don’t just “snap your fingers” and change happens. “That’s the art of government. I can get it done,” he said. The fireworks began even before the debate kicked off, with Nixon, who would be the state’s first female governor, complaining that Cuomo had imposed a series of demands on the debate’s organizers – and then making a request of her own. The challenger asked that the temperature in the room be set at 76F (24.5C). Campaign adviser Rebecca Katz wrote that workplace conditions are “notoriously sexist when it comes to room temperature”, according to an email obtained by the New York Times – referring to air conditioners being set on high to cater to suited men. Cuomo – who in recent weeks got in a heated spat with Trump after saying that America “was never that great”, comments he later walked back – has been discussed as a possible 2020 presidential contender for his party. But he pledged definitively during the debate to serve a full term if re-elected, which would preclude a presidential run. “Yes, yes, and double yes,” he said. “The only caveat is if God strikes me dead.” Also Wednesday, it was revealed that Cuomo received a $25,000 campaign donation from a law firm that formerly represented the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, six days before the governor called off an investigation into the Manhattan district attorney’s handling of sex abuse allegations against Weinstein, according to a report on the websites Capital & Main and Sludge. The winner of the Democratic primary on 13 September will face the Republican Marc Molinaro and independent Stephanie Miner in November.<doc-sep>
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon swapped insults and clashed over policy Wednesday in their only scheduled debate before the Sept. 13 Democratic primary. While the testy, hourlong exchange at Hofstra University featured plenty of interruptions and insults, neither candidate landed the political equivalent of a knockout blow likely to significantly alter the race. Cuomo did make news during the debate, saying in response to a question about his political future that he plans to serve a full four years and will not run for president if elected to a third term. Cuomo had been considered a potential presidential contender. Nixon, a longtime liberal activist, went after the incumbent early in the debate, calling Cuomo corrupt and a liar. She accused him of empowering Republicans in Albany and not doing enough to address political corruption, income inequality or New York City’s aging subways. Cuomo, Nixon argue over who is bigger Trump critic at NY governor debate “I’m not an Albany insider like Gov. Cuomo but I think experience doesn’t mean that much if you’re not good at governing,” she said. Cuomo responded by saying Nixon “lives in a world of fiction” and doesn’t understand the challenges of leading the nation’s fourth largest state. “It’s about doing. It’s about management. This is real life,” Cuomo said. “You’re in charge of fighting terrorism. You’re there in case of fires and floods and emergencies ... and today you’ve got to deal with Donald Trump. You need to know how to do it.” Polls suggest Cuomo has a more than 30 percentage point lead over Nixon, who also trails substantially in fundraising. Observers had predicted that Nixon would attempt to rattle the governor in the hopes that he would misspeak. “Can you stop interrupting?” Cuomo asked at one point. “Can you stop lying?” Nixon fired back. Nixon attempted to tie Cuomo to the recent conviction of his former top aide, Joe Percoco, on charges that he accepted bribes from companies seeking state economic development funds. She said Cuomo was either complicit or ignorant about what was going on in his administration. “Either corruption or incompetence, which is it?” Cuomo responded that he didn’t know about Percoco’s activities and said he would push for greater ethics reforms if re-elected. While several of Nixon’s attacks appeared to irritate the governor, they did not provoke any significant gaffes — such as the governor’s comment earlier this month that America “was never that great.” Cuomo later said the remark was “inartful.” Hofstra University political scientist Craig Burnett said he didn’t see a clear winner in the debate, and that both candidates can claim some accomplishments. Nixon, he said, had an opportunity to lay out her progressive vision for the state, whereas Cuomo held his own and avoided any serious missteps that could go viral and change the race. “Ideally Nixon would have wanted this debate to happen three months ago,” he said. “She would have wanted three or four of them, as a way to get her message out. But this was it.” Cuomo had been considered a possible presidential contender in 2020 but he brushed off that speculation when asked by a moderator if he would pledge to serve four years if re-elected. “Yes, yes, yes and yes,” he said in response. The candidates also were asked whether they would seek the endorsement of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a liberal Democrat who has had a long, frosty relationship with Cuomo. Nixon has been a close ally. Neither candidate said yes. Nixon said she’s running her own campaign and isn’t taking direction from anyone, while Cuomo said that he wouldn’t try to tell the mayor how to vote. The Democratic primary winner faces Republican Marc Molinaro, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins and independent Stephanie Miner in November. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in New York by more than 2-1.