Heated Special Election Debate 'What I Expected': Moderator
WOODBURY, NY — The gloves came off in the only special election debate between Tom Suozzi and Mazi Pilip Thursday night.
An audience of more than 100 watched and participated by asking some questions to the candidates, who seek to replace George Santos in Congress.
Rich Barrabi was also there. The News 12 anchor moderated the feisty debate.
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“It was kind of what I expected it to be,” Barrabi told Patch. “There had been so many negative ads out there, as there always are, but in this condensed, six-week election cycle, they hit fast and furious.”
They hit on various hot-button issues during the one-hour pretaped event, including abortion rights and a rise of antisemitism in the U.S.
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“You felt that tension in the room,” Barrabi said. “I talked to people who were in the audience and they felt the same way.”
Despite the fiery exchanges, Barrabi, for the most part, left the candidates alone.
“I wanted to let them go, within reason,” he said. “In those areas where I felt they were giving it pretty good back and forth, my perspective is it serves viewers to let that give-and-take play out.
Early voting wraps up in the 3rd District on Sunday, ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, so the debate may be the only opportunity to meet the combatants.
“I think you got a pretty good sense of the candidates,” Barrabi said.
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As a Newsday/Siena College poll indicated this week, the veteran Suozzi holds a four-point lead over upstart Pilip, a two-term Nassau County Legislator from Great Neck.
“Nobody was playing with a lead,” Barrabi said. “It didn’t feel like there was a candidate who was playing it safe.”
The debate stage had Pilip and Suozzi standing alongside a small table for water and notes.
“We welcomed the candidates to be able to move freely and embrace that town hall-style,” Barrabi said.
Personally, for the veteran News 12 anchor, helming the debate was a “great experience,” while informing the public in the race’s closing days.
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