Republican John Cahill is asking the state’s top prosecutor to debate him multiple times, but so far, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman hasn’t agreed to anything.
Cahill wants to take on Schneiderman, a Democrat, in every region of the state.
"It’s a long process to convince voters and to talk to voters about the issues that they face, the roll of the attorney general," he said in an interview.
Cahill wants ten regional debates and one statewide.
It’s common practice for a little-known challenger for call for several debates against an incumbent. It’s a way to earn publicity and score point. So it’s also common for incumbents to avoid debates as much as possible.
"You certainly have a responsibility, I believe, to talk to all of New Yorkers and the attorney general hasn’t really spent a lot of time traveling New York and maybe it’s an opportunity for him to meet some of the great people of this state," Cahill charged.
Cahill was an aide to former Republican Gov. George Pataki. He’s been hitting Schneiderman on not fighting corruption enough.
"I’m not going to remain silent on it," he said. "I’m going to talk about it every day for the next six weeks."
When asked whether the attorney general would accept the debate invitations, a campaign staffer only pointed to a comment Schneiderman made last month.
"I'm sure I will at some point," he told the public radio show "The Capitol Pressroom" in August.
