Primary Day is tomorrow, so if you haven’t voted early, this is your last chance. And if you still haven’t decided, here are some nuggets to push you along. Find your polling site here. 

PIX 11 hosted the second and last debate; it’s an hour long and below. Only the candidates polling above 5 percent in a recent survey taken by Emerson College, PIX11 and The Hill were invited: Dan Goldman, Mondaire Jones, Yuh-Line Niou, Carlina Rivera, and Jo Anne Simon.

I found most of the responses predictable (for example, no one says that hate crimes are not an issue) and similar from one candidate to the next, but listen for yourself if you have a pet issue: Topics addressed included immigration, migrants arriving from Texas and Texas governor Greg Abbott’s response and the federal government’s role (12:30), monkey pox and vaccine response (19:45), hate crimes (which are up 125 percent in NYC) (28:45), guns and safety (36:00), federal takeover and subsequent closure of Rikers (they all said yes) (42:00).

The candidates got most animated with the question of whether there should be another federal stimulus check, which expanded into real estate interests intervening in the race, inflation and accusations of being out of touch with voters. (I never get why they say “a candidate on this stage” and not the name of the candidate.)

Goldman was targeted several times by Jones and others, for Donald Trump’s endorsement (see below), for his stock investments in gun companies and for self funding his campaign. (Goldman said he called his broker and told her to divest in stocks that don’t align with his values.)

One curious point that I had not realized: Goldman noted that he is the only person on the stage raising children, and raising them in the district (they all go to private school); three of the candidates do not have children, and Simon has two adult stepsons.

The moderators also asked each candidate to defend themselves on controversial issues that have come up in the race:

NIOU on ISRAEL
Niou was challenged for supporting BDS, the Palestinian organization. She said she absolutely thinks Israel should exist yet she believes that BDS should be granted its right to free speech and that she supports human rights for Palestinians.

RIVERA on the SCHOOLS BUDGET
Rivera defending her decision to vote for a city budget that cut $200 million in funding for city schools. “We are working to rectify those cuts.” She said that when you are voting on a budget, there is a give-and-take. And she noted she is a product of local schools.

JONES on CARPETBAGGING
Jones said that his understanding of this district rivals anyone on the stage, despite the fact that he has never lived here, and that as a congressman, he has already been doing a lot of the work that other candidates are just talking about.

SIMON on BAIL REFORM
Simon suggested that the criticism of bail reform is a product of bad actors who are invested in making sure people feel scared. “Bail reform is about returning to court, not about punishing people. Everything they are complaining about are crimes that are eligible for bail. I will always focus on the facts — not on that rhetoric.”

GOLDMAN on ABORTION RIGHTS
Goldman has been accused of not fully supporting abortion rights in all situations, and responded that “I have been consistently clear on a woman’s right to choose, and that should only between a woman and her doctor and government should have no role in that.”

In other coverage:

THE ENDORSEMENTS TO DATE
City & State runs down the full list of endorsements for each candidate,

DARK MONEY ENTERS THE RACE
City & State reports that a dark money super PAC, which they are guessing is supported by real estate interests, is sending out flyers to discredit Yuh-Line Niou: “A dark money super PAC which hasn’t disclosed its donors is also playing in the race, spending $225,000 on mailers and digital ads attacking Niou directly on her record, and even her personal finances.”

ABANDONING IDENTITY POLITICS
New York Magazine criticizes the Times’ endorsement of Goldman: “He supports Mayor Eric Adams’s crusade to further weaken reforms to the bail process passed in Albany three years ago. He is also proud ally of the real-estate industry and Wall Street, where he is pulling donations. And Goldman is, figuratively and literally, an MSNBC liberal: He built a large social-media following making frequent cable-TV appearances.”

DONALD TRUMP’S CHOICE
Finally, if you can find any humor in this situation, here’s Donald Trump’s tongue-in-cheek (maybe?) endorsement of Dan Goldman, from, of course, Truth Social. Al Jazeera and The Hill have an analysis of that one.