Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates discussed gun violence, reproductive rights and potential COVID-19 compensation Tuesday night in the second debate for the state’s race for governor.

Gov. Kathy Hochul debated Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island) and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams during the event, which was moderated by CBS 2 Chief Political Correspondent Marcia Kramer and anchor Maurice DuBois. This was Hochul’s first debate of the Democratic primary election, as she was absent from one between Williams and Suozzi earlier this month.

Williams opened the debate discussing gun violence and named individuals from his high school who were shot and killed in the 1990s. Williams said the issue is personal rather than theoretical, and that recent legislation does not address the type of gun violence that impacts individuals on the community level.

In response, Hochul discussed a recently-signed microstamping bill, which requires the use of ballistic imprinting for all semi-automatic pistols manufactured in and delivered to the state, enabling law enforcement to identify and trace ammunition. The governor said the legislation addresses the root causes of gun violence while better equipping law enforcement. Williams responded that the bill will not take effect for four years.

“From Brooklyn to Buffalo, people are dealing with gun violence in a way that we haven’t dealt with in a very long time,” Williams said. “It’s important to have someone who understands just a press conference, like Andrew Cuomo did when people were dying through the pandemic, will not stop people from dying. I’m tired of going from press conference to funeral.”

Hochul also defended her controversial plan to spend $850 million in taxpayer money on a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Dubois asked Hochul whether the hospitality company Delaware North, which Hochul’s husband is a general counsel for, should be precluded from bidding on concessions at the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium. Hochul secured an allocation of $600 million for the stadium in the state’s FY 2022-23 budget.

Both Williams and Suozzi criticized the stadium’s funding. Williams said the state should have directed funding toward gun violence prevention and not the $1.4 billion stadium in Buffalo, where 10 people died in a mass shooting in May.

Candidates also discussed abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft decision to overrule Roe v. Wade. Hochul established that the state will continue to protect reproductive rights by funding reproductive services. The government will not use taxpayer dollars to help individuals in states without abortion protections travel to New York if Roe v. Wade is repealed, she added.

“We already have people from Ohio, traveling to Western New York to get services now because their laws are already more restrictive, so we need to be ready for them,” Hochul said. “But my job is to make sure that New York women are not denied the services that as a woman, I take very seriously.”

During a conversation about the coronavirus pandemic, Williams said he supports monetary compensation for the families of the over 15,000 patients who died of COVID-19 in New York state nursing homes and long-term care facilities. He also voiced his regret for refraining from speaking out as people were dying in 2020.

Suozzi criticized Hochul for neglecting to put together a committee to investigate nursing home and living facility deaths in early 2020. Hochul responded that she plans to find out what happened in nursing homes during the early stages of the pandemic.

“We have not learned the lessons from COVID Because we didn’t have a comprehensive plan to address omicron back in November, December, January of last year, while the governor was traveling the state doing fundraising,” Suozzi said.

NBC 4 New York, Telemundo 47 and the Albany Times Union will host another debate between the three candidates on June 16. Early voting will begin two days later on June 18.

Published on June 7, 2022 at 11:09 pm

Contact Jana: jlseal@syr.edu | @JanaLoSeal