NY AG Candidates To Debate On 9/6, With Preet Bharara And Brian Lehrer Moderating
Aug. 28, 2018, 12:45 p.m.
The AG's race is considered to be wide open.
Leecia Eve, Sean Patrick Maloney, Zephyr Teachout, Letitia James
New York State's second primary of the year will be on Thursday, September 13 (not Tuesday, due to Rosh Hashanah). Four candidates are running as Democrats to be the next Attorney General of New York, and WNYC and Cooper Union are hosting what is probably going to be their final debate on September 6th.
The candidates are Leecia Eve, an attorney and current vice president for government affairs at Verizon who has worked for Hillary Clinton (her name was floated when Governor David Paterson was filling Clinton's Senate seat in 2008) and for Governor Andrew Cuomo; Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who made history as NY's first gay member of Congress; Zephyr Teachout, a law professor and former gubernatorial candidate; and Public Advocate Letitia James. A Quinnipiac poll released in July suggests that the race is "wide open" with undecided voters leading at 42%, followed by James at 26%; Maloney, 15%; Teachout 12%; and Eve, 3%.
The NY Times and the Daily News recently endorsed Teachout, who also has backing from gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and other progressive groups and politicians. James has been endorsed by Cuomo; Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie; many other politicians; many unions including 1199SEIU and 32BJ SEIU; and Emily's List. The Queens Tribune endorsed Eve.
Fun, if confusing, fact: Maloney is also running for reelection in the 18th District.
In a debate last week, the candidates said that they would consider investigating cases of public corruption, even if it involves Cuomo. The candidates are also debating tonight on NY1.
Attorney General Barbara Underwood is not running. She is finishing out the current term after being elevated from Solicitor General following Eric Schneiderman's resignation after four women accused him of assaulting and choking them.
The September 6th attorney general debate will be moderated by WNYC's Brian Lehrer and former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who now hosts a podcast, Stay Tuned With Preet, and is a professor at NYU Law School. They will be joined by panelists from New York-based nonprofits that belong to New Yorkers for Responsible Lending coalition.
