NEW YORK – Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican challenger Marc Molinaro will square off Tuesday afternoon in their only scheduled debate, which will air across the state later in the evening.
The hastily scheduled, hour-long debate will air on television at 7 p.m. on most CBS affiliates in New York, including WROC in Rochester, WBNG in Binghamton and WCBS in New York City.
It will also be broadcast on tape delay at cbsnewyork.com and wbs880.radio.com.
The one-on-one debate between Cuomo, a Democrat, and Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, will be taped at 1:30 p.m. at the CBS Broadcasting Center in Manhattan.
Cuomo and Molinaro agreed to participate earlier this week after several days of unusually public, will-they-or-won't-they negotiations over the terms of the debate, who will participate and how it will air.
The incumbent governor had initially appeared apprehensive to debate at all, accusing Molinaro of having "ultra-conservative views" that would be "harmful to the body politic" on a big stage.
But Molinaro and other critics of Cuomo, who carries a large lead in campaign fundraising and in public-opinion polls, accused the governor of trying to avoid a debate, with the New York Post publishing an image of Cuomo in a chicken suit on its front page four days in a row.
Ultimately, the two sides agreed to Tuesday's affair, which will be moderated by veteran journalist Marcia Kramer of CBS 2 News and Rich Lamb of WCBS 880-AM.
Election Day is Nov. 6.
The debate will only feature the two major-party candidates for governor, a move that angered the three third-party candidates on the November ballot: Larry Sharpe of the Libertarian Party, Stephanie Miner of the Serve America Movement and Howie Hawkins of the Green Party.
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The state League of Women Voters, meanwhile, invited all five candidates to its Nov. 1 debate in Albany.
Four candidates have accepted so far — everyone but Cuomo.
"Although we are pleased to see the governor agree to debate (Tuesday), we feel that including only two of the five gubernatorial candidates is a disservice to voters," Jennifer Wilson, the league's legislative director, said in a statement.
Tuesday's debate will be Cuomo's second in two months.
In late August, he debated Democratic rival Cynthia Nixon, the Sex and the City star, at Hofstra University on Long Island.
He easily defeated Nixon in the Sept. 13 primary.