BUFFALO, N.Y. — We are just two weeks away from Election Day and Tuesday night is your first and only chance to see Democrat Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Lee Zeldin take the debate stage in the race for New York governor.
2 On Your Side talked with Shawn Donahue from the University at Buffalo. He is a political science professor. Donahue said candidates are running out of time not only to get people to vote for them but to get people to actually participate in this election.
"Time is of the essence to try to persuade persuadable voters and also to try to gin up each side's base. So one thing that I think some Democrats are worried about right now is that their base, particularly in New York City, does not seem as enthusiastic to vote maybe as the Republican base in New York. Now, it's a lot bigger group of people than the Republican base in New York, but still, that could make the election a lot closer than we might have thought a couple of months ago," said Shawn Donahue.
Donahue says this race is getting more national coverage than usual because of the tighter poll numbers, and he saw it mentioned on the cable news outlets Tuesday.
Donahue also says what happens tonight could impact fundraising in the final days of the campaigns.
"The Senate debate in Pennsylvania probably nationally is going to overshadow our debate nationally, but the Governor's race in New York is definitely getting some interest nationally. You know, this is also an opportunity potentially for the candidates, you know, if a candidate does particularly well, even though we only have two weeks left, it may be a chance to get some late fundraising and money into their campaign to help benefit that last push," said Shawn Donahue.
The debate is hosted by Spectrum News and starts at 7 p.m. We will have an analysis at 11 p.m. on Channel 2.