7 Public Advocate Hopefuls To Battle In 2nd Debate: How To Watch

NEW YORK — And then there were seven. The frontrunners in the special election for New York City public advocate will battle in a second televised debate on Wednesday, just six days before voters cast ballots.

The debate, hosted by the city's Campaign Finance Board, will feature the seven "leading contenders" in a race that has had more than 20 candidates. The Feb. 26 vote will decide who fills state Attorney General Letitia James's former citywide post for the rest of the year.

The candidates slated to make their cases from the Borough of Manhattan Community College include:

• Michael Blake, state assemblyman
• Rafael Espinal, city councilman
• Ron Kim, state assemblyman
• Nomiki Konst, activist and journalist
• Melissa Mark-Viverito, former City Council speaker
• Dawn Smalls, attorney and former Obama administration staffer
• Jumaane Williams, city councilman

The candidates who made the cut for this week's debate all appeared in the first face-off on Feb. 6. To qualify, they must have raised and spent $170,813 and gotten an endorsement from an elected official representing part or all of the city, or an organization with more than 250 members living here, the Campaign Finance Board says.

Three candidates who qualified for the first debate won't be appearing in the second one: state Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and City Councilman Eric Ulrich, one of the race's few Republican entrants.

The nonpartisan special election has drawn a massive field of candidates for a job that has little actual power but has served as a stepping stone to higher offices. James made history last November as the first woman ever elected attorney general, and Mayor Bill de Blasio was her predecessor as public advocate.

Blake has raised more money than any other candidate with more than $1.1 million in public and private funds as of late last week, followed by Williams with more than $1,042,000, campaign finance records show. But Williams has outspent the rest of the field with $767,000 in expenses.

Smalls had the biggest war chest with $522,473 on hand as of last week, followed by Kim's $506,346.

NY1 will broadcast Wednesday's debate starting at 7 p.m. and stream it on its website and Facebook page. NYC Life, a city-owned TV station, will simulcast the program. NY1 also has the first debate available on its Facebook page.

(Lead image: A woman arrives at a polling station on New York state's primary election day, Sept. 13, 2018 in Brooklyn. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)