Tonight, seven candidates will descend upon Hofstra University to vie for the position of governor of New York State. Hot topics will include the politicians' plans to address the state's floundering economy, including proposed property tax caps and measures to encourage economic and job growth.
The debating candidates include frontrunner, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D), Carl Paladino (R). Also taking the stage will be Green Party Candidate Howie Hawkins, Libertarian Warren Redlich, Freedom Party candidate Charles Barron, former madam Kristin Davis running on the Anti-Prohibition line and Jimmie McMillan of the memorably titled Rent Is Too Damn High Party.
Some might say that for a job description that includes running Albany and filling a projected $8 billion dollar budget gap, that seems like a lot of competition. We say this all seems to involve a lot of economics.
It seems like voters think so too. The New York Times published the following numbers Sunday in coverage of a pre-election poll of New York residents:
Fully 69 percent worry that they or someone in their household will be laid off within the next year. Not surprisingly, they overwhelmingly want the next governor to focus on creating jobs. Even as they express support for Mr. Cuomo, however, they are uncertain he can make a difference. While 27 percent say the economy will improve if Mr. Cuomo is elected, 53 percent say it will stay the same and 10 percent say it will worsen. And despite both candidates’ pledge to reduce the burden of state and local taxes, similar proportions of voters — about 4 in 10 — said they expected their taxes would go up if Mr. Cuomo won or if Mr. Paladino won.
If you want to keep following the candidates on the economy with us, we'll be live tweeting the debate tonight from @innovationtrail, starting at 7 p.m.
