Photos courtesy of University Relations

Ahead of the Thursday, Sept. 13 Democratic primary, gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon and incumbent Andrew Cuomo faced off in a televised debate hosted by Hofstra on Wednesday, Aug. 29.

The fiery debate was held in the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Center and moderated by Marcia Kramer and Maurice DuBois of WCBS-TV.  The Democratic rivals debated critical issues impacting New Yorkers every day such as health care, mass transit, the legalization of marijuana, corruption in government, the topic of paid bereavement leave and combating the Trump agenda.

Nixon, best known for her role as Miranda in HBO’s “Sex and the City,” is running as a Democratic Socialist with a platform endorsing single-payer health care, the legalization of marijuana, LGBTQ+ rights, increasing education funding and the abolition of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“I am 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,” Nixon said at the start of the debate.

Cuomo is currently running for his third term as governor of New York. Cuomo openly opposes President Trump and is running with plans to tighten gun regulations, adopt stricter environmental policies and provide protection for immigrants.

Nixon is running on a platform to stop mass deportation through executive order, protecting reproductive rights, fighting for climate protection and pushing for single-payer health care.

“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,” Nixon said. “We need to oppose Donald Trump, not just with rhetoric but with policy.”

The candidates also took to the floor to spar over the important issue of health care. Nixon supports the idea of Medicare for all. When asked how she plans to make this happen, Nixon emphasized the savings this would provide for New York State.

“We can insure all of our people here by a single-payer, Medicare for all system. We can do it better, we can do it cheaper, we can do it with no copays, with no deductibles and 98 percent of New Yorkers would pay less for their health care than they do now,” Nixon said.

“What we would have is a payroll tax in order to pay for it,” Nixon said. “It would be taken out of people’s payrolls the same way that Social Security is taken out. It would be an overall savings for 98 percent of New Yorkers.”

During his rebuttal, Gov. Cuomo addressed that single-payer health care, “in theory is right,” but the money to pay for the transition is over budget. “It is the right idea; it should be explored. It is hard to do. The real thing we need to do is have a president of the United States that understands that health care is not a luxury, it is a human right,” Cuomo said.

Throughout the debate, the candidates quarreled over Cuomo’s former aid Joe Percoco, corruption, the racial justice issues behind marijuana and the former Tappan Zee Bridge. The gubernatorial hopefuls clashed when the governor asked Nixon, “Can you stop interrupting?” to which she replied, “Can you stop lying?”

“I felt like I was watching candidates for a middle school student council race square off,” said president of the Hofstra Democrats Brynne Levine. “This election year/cycle is so incredibly important to the future of our nation, and the pettiness of the two candidates definitely makes it seem not as such.”

Deandra Denton, junior sociology and public policy major and Student Government Association (SGA) vice president, felt that the debate did not address the important topics she was hoping for.

“We’re in a period of identity politics and Andrew Cuomo is a white older male and Cynthia Nixon is LGBTQ+, woman, working mother,” Denton said. “I just wanted to hear how their identities can help the Democratic party in New York State.”

Tyler Stock, a sophomore linguistics and psychology major, was hoping to gain some new insight, but left the debate feeling even more confused about the issues addressed.

“As a native New Yorker who knew a little about the issues, I still feel confused. I feel like they were really not good at delivering facts that viewers need,” Stock said. “If these people are going to be in charge, they have to be able to approach things more objectively than subjectively.”

Other students who call New York home, such as Hofstra College Republicans Secretary and senior Nick Zotto, agreed that the facts were out of focus. “I found the debate focused too much on New York City. As a Long Islander, I was hoping there would be a discussion about hurricane relief or solutions to the MS-13 gang. There was none of that and little mention of upstate New York.”

Students also seemed polarized regarding the issue of Nixon’s self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist platform. “While I am no fan of Gov. Cuomo, I am disturbed by Cynthia Nixon’s claim of being a democratic socialist,” Zotto said “With other Democratic politicians claiming to be Democratic Socialists, we must be wary of how much socialism that entails.”

Conversely, other students felt that Nixon’s platform did not go far enough. “As a co-chair of Hofstra YDSA [Young Democratic Socialists of America], representing the chapter as a whole, I find it refreshing that a prominent gubernatorial candidate sought out the recognition and support of a socialist organization and termed herself a socialist,” said senior philosophy major Tommy McGlone. “As an individual, I find that her brand of ‘socialism’ lacks the harsh critique of capital necessary to foster a powerful, urgent movement towards anti-imperialist eco-socialism.”

The debate lasted approximately one hour and did not include any opening or closing remarks from the candidates. Nixon and Cuomo were each given two minutes to respond to questions and one minute for rebuttals.

“I think we have such a privilege as Hofstra students that we have so many debates and that our campus is such a center of political activism and civic engagement,” said Abby Normandin, senior public policy and global studies major and SGA president. “Being able to go and see people who want to be your leader, your governor, your president, incentivizes you to participate so much more because it’s right here at home, so you kind of see how it directly affects your community.”

The New York Democratic primary will be held on Thursday Sept. 13, and the general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6.