New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman sparred over immigration policy, President Donald Trump and who deserves blame for the rising cost of living during a 60-minute debate Tuesday night.

Both candidates repeatedly fell back on their campaign talking points during their 60-minute debate at Spectrum News NY1’s studios above Chelsea Market, which marked what may have been their best chance to appeal directly to New York voters three weeks before Election Day. The debate seemed to lack any major gaffes or viral moments that could meaningfully shift the race.

Hochul, the incumbent Democrat, touted her record in office while bringing up Blakeman’s support for Trump no fewer than 10 times, a move she hopes will resonate in a state where polls show most voters have a low opinion of the Republican president.

“This is your choice, New Yorkers,” she said, noting Blakeman once said he wants to bring “Trump-style leadership” to Albany . “I'm not letting this happen.”

Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, repeatedly blamed Hochul for rising gas and electric bills across the state. He said Hochul had made the state less safe through New York’s sanctuary policies for migrants.

But he largely shied away from tying Hochul to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other democratic socialists, whom the Republican has used as a boogeyman while campaigning in more moderate and conservative areas of the state. Blakeman’s strategy has been complicated in recent months by Trump, who has embraced the socialist mayor.

“I’m going to ask you to vote for change,” Blakeman said in his opening statement. “What have you got to lose? And vote for a better New York, and vote for Blakeman for governor.”

Both candidates traded barbed criticisms throughout the debate. The moderators frequently let them address each other directly, sometimes for several minutes.

But neither Hochul nor Blakeman baited their opponent into the kind of viral exchange that can quickly ricochet across the internet — the kind of knockout blow underdog candidates, in particular, hope to land in modern debates.

Recent public-opinion polls have shown Hochul, the incumbent Democrat, with anywhere from a 9- to 19-point lead over Blakeman , the Nassau County executive looking to become the first Republican to win a statewide race in New York since former Gov. George Pataki in 2002.

Blakeman, 71, repeatedly criticized Hochul for the state’s new law restricting formal cooperation agreements with the federal government on immigration matters. The move forced Blakeman to abandon his county’s agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

When co-moderator Errol Louis asked Blakeman about an ICE officer shooting a man during an attempted arrest — all while a 5-year-old was in the back seat — in the Marble Hill neighborhood of upper Manhattan , Blakeman pointed back to the sanctuary-style law Hochul supported.

“ The question that New Yorkers have to ask is what was this guy doing in New York in the first place?” Blakeman said. “It's because Kathy Hochul has made us a sanctuary state.”

Hochul, 68, responded by faulting Blakeman for failing to condemn ICE’s actions in the shooting that has reignited the immigration debate in New York City.

“ So he basically says in the state of New York he'd be fine if ICE agents shoot into cars, shoot guns into vehicles, not knowing who's inside, and could have killed a five-year-old child,” Hochul said. “If that doesn't shock the conscience of everybody.”