The third and final debate between the two candidates running for mayor of New York City-- Democrat Bill de Blasio and Republican Joseph J. Lhota--will be held Wednesday night.
The two prior debates have showcased the sharp debating skills of both candidates, with de Blasio, the consistent front-runner, emerging victorious from the first debate, and Lhota coming back with a fierce counter-attack in the second. The third debate could either yield a clear tie-breaker, or end with solid arguments from both mayoral hopefuls.
Wednesday night's debate was postponed from Tuesday out of respect for the one year anniversary of deadly superstorm Hurricane Sandy. The 90-minute debate will be held Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. on NBC 4, and will not be held in front of a live audience. The debate is co-sponsored by NBC 4 New York, Telemundo Nueva York and The Wall Street Journal.
In the first debate, de Blaiso was declared the clear victor. He was unremitting in his denunciations against the Republican candidate, tying him to what he called an obstructionist Republican Party, as well as the Rudolph W. Giuliani administration. He dominated the hour-long discourse, usually getting in the last word and asking the panelists for longer response times to elaborate on his criticisms.
Lhota came to the debate ready to raise questions about de Blasio's short resume and paint him as a liberal that is too conciliatory, soft on crime, and has a destructive social policy that will hurt the middle class. But Lhota did not do the swinging; the Republican candidate spent most of the time on the defensive.
At one point, Lhota had to defend the fare increases that went into effect during his time as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as well as his meeting with Tea Party members on Staten Island. He also had to explain why he wished to delay the start of the Affordable Care Act, a stance held by many House Republicans that was the central factor that led to the government shutdown.
Lhota sometimes said de Blasio was inaccurate in lumping him in with the Republicans in Congress.
"It's unbecoming, Bill," said Lhota. Lhota is more socially liberal than many Republicans; he supports both same-sex marriage and abortion rights.
Yet de Blasio was unabating in his main criticism, and repeated the same attack multiple times.
"The fact is he does subscribe to the views of the Republican Party that have hurt New York City," de Blasio said.
The second debate was a vast departure from the first, with Lhota awakening his political beast and unleashing a surprise attack on de Blasio.
After slipping in the polls following a verbal beating by Democratic nominee de Blasio, Lhota stepped up his game, hurling strong invective at his opponent in a no-holds-barred, acrimonious debate, according to The New York Times.
Lhota asserted that de Blasio would "annihilate" charter schools, and would commit "civil wrong" by raising taxes and taking a "reckless" approach to crime. Lhota said that de Blasio's political strategies will "push us back to where we were," referencing New York City's crime-ridden days in the 1970s and 80s.
De Blasio, who is leading in the polls, often appeared shaken by his opponent's unexpected verbal onslaught, shaking his head and even asking for Lhota to temper his language. "I would ask Mr. Lhota to not use incendiary terms," de Blasio said at one point.
The evening's most heated exchange was over an advertisement put out by Lhota that used footage from the 1991 riots in Crown Heights to paint Democrats as soft on crime. "It's race baiting and it's fear mongering and you know it," de Blasio said, adding, "Anybody who looks at that ad knows what he is up to."
Lhota sharply retorted: "Don't tell me I threw out the race card," he said. "Bill, you cannot stoop to that level."
The hour-long debate came two weeks before voters will go to the polls. Although the debate is unlikely to push Lhota ahead of de Blasio's sizable advantage, the debate showed Lhota as knowledgable and unafraid to speak his mind, or even attack his opponent for policies with which he disagrees.
De Blasio has continued to lead Lhota by nearly 40 points in the polls since the primary election, according to The Republic.
The third debate is the final debate before the election, which takes place on Nov. 5.
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