Under a local law passed in December 1996, the Campaign Finance Board holds a series of public
debates for Campaign Finance Program participants running for the citywide offices of Mayor, Public
Advocate, and Comptroller. This law was passed in part in response to public frustration at the
failure of candidates to debate “face to face” in previous elections. The program is administered by
the CFB, and the individual debates are conducted by various media and civic organizations.
Under this law, candidates for citywide office who are participants in the Campaign Finance Program
and are on the ballot for the September 25 primary election are required to take part in two debates
before the primary election. For the November 6 general election, Program participants on the ballot
for one of these three offices are required to participate in at least one mandatory debate. A second
general election debate will include only “leading contenders” for each office, which means that a
candidate who is not participating in the Campaign Finance Program but who is objectively determined
to be a “leading contender” will be permitted to take part in this second debate. An alternative voter
education program will be provided for Program participants who are not “leading contenders.” If a
run-off primary election is held for any of the citywide offices (which occurs only if no candidate
receives at least 40% of the vote), two run-off primary debates will be held in addition to those
described above.
The CFB received applications from a variety of organizations interested in conducting one or more of
the debates. Applicants had to meet the following requirements: they must not be affiliated with any
political party, candidate, or public official, and they must not endorse any candidates for the
pending primary or general election before the debates for that election are held. The CFB reviewed
the applications and chose the organizations best able both to reach a wide audience and to run a
fair and impartial debate. In the debate schedule,
the date, time, and broadcast information for each debate are listed.
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