Kathy Hochul wants to roll the dice on issuing licenses for up to three New York City-area casinos.

The governor said she opposed stopping or pausing the upcoming site selection process for downstate casinos after Spectrum-NY1 moderator Errol Louis said revenues from upstate casinos have been less than advertised.

"I got it [the process] moving. We've got an opportunity to create thousands of jobs," she said, noting the hospitality industry has not fully recovered from the pandemic.

She said the state also can use the revenues from downstate casinos to pay for education and social services instead of raising taxes, and there are siting boards that will take local viewpoints into account. Lee Zeldin said casinos should "not be jammed" into neighborhoods that oppose them.

While neither candidate landed a knock-out blow, political operatives said Zeldin was able to score some points with his more energetic debate performance against Hochul.

"Lee came across very strong and passionate. Hochul saying she didn’t know why he cared so much about crime was a mistake he’s going to capitalize on for the next 13 days. Issues are on Lee’s side," GOP political consultant Chapin Fay, who previously worked for Zeldin, said after the debate.

A Democratic operative on Long Island said Zeldin was "running all over her talking points" early in the debate.

"Kudos to his debate prep," the operative said.

The candidates have differing takes on the CDC recently advising COVID vaccines be added to the list of required shots for students.

"Let me be clear to all the parents who are out there. I will not mandate COVID vaccines for your kids. Ever," Zeldin said.

Hochul said she would considering supporting a vaccine mandate – but only after consulting state lawmakers who she argued would have to act.

Hochul admitted all she's done to help NYC with their growing migrant crisis is "talk" to President Biden - who still hasn't committed to sending additional federal dollars.

"That billion dollar number, I believe, is going to be significantly less," she said of the estimated financial cost, without offering the promise of state or federal dollars.

"We're there to be of assistance to the mayor," she said.

When asked whether she's called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop sending busloads of mirgants from the southern border, she said no.

Hochul shrugged her shoulders when pressed and said "if you like," adding she would rather not try as she thinks the call would be fruitless.

The Buffalo native says the $850 million in public money she committed to a new stadium for her hometown NFL team is money well spent despite its questionable benefit to taxpayers.

"Like Broadway in New York City, the Buffalo Bills are to Western New York," Hochul said while defending the deal, which also benefits the company employing her husband Bill Hochul.

Zeldin noted that Hochul surprised fellow Democrats by unveiling the terms of the deal ahead of the state budget deal inked in April, which, he said, came after she shook down the Seneca Nation tribe for disputed casino revenues.

"She screwed over the Seneca Nation," Zeldin charged.

Kathy Hochul, during a "cross-examination" question, asked Lee Zeldin if he believed Donald Trump was a "great president."

Zeldin said he "worked closely" with Trump to help New York and his Long Island congressional district fight the COVID-19 outbreak and praised the ex-president for strengthening border security and aiding Israel. He said he got Trump to bring the USS Comfort ship to the city for use as a hospital for COVID patients.

"I worked closely with him…. from our work to combat MS 13 on Long Island….work to secure to the southern border, strengthening the US- Israel relationship, moving the embassy in Israel, from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, [implementing] the Abraham Accords," Zeldin said.

Hochul shot back, "I'll take that as a resounding yes. And the voters of New York do not agree with you."

Hochul stuck to backing abortion rights in New York, declaring the only reason nothing changed the day after the Dobbs decision came down is because she was the one serving as the state's executive -- not Zeldin.

"Lee you can't run from your record!" she chided Zeldin, arguing although he says he won't remove abortion protections, his congressional voting record tells a different story.

She said he was a cosponsor of a bill that would overturn Roe.

"You even said on the first day youd be willing to suspend laws!"

"I don't trust this.. women don't trust this!" she declared.

Zeldin countered that the abortion issue was a false hypothetical since the Democrat-controlled legislature would not overturn any abortion protections granted by New York.

"First off, there's not going to be a Republican legislature in January and there's less than zero-percent chance that Carl Heastie, the speaker of the Assembly, is going to send me a bill that's rolling back" those laws, he said.

Zeldin attacked Hochul over questionable campaign fundraising from people with business before the state that has drawn accusation of "pay-to-play" culture in her administration.

"One of the other reasons why my opponent has lost the trust of so many New Yorkers is they see all these stories with regards to the pay to play corruption," Zeldin said when given a chance to pose a question to his rival.

"How are you pledging to deal with the pay-to-play corruption that is plaguing you and your administration?"

Hochul denied that she had engaged in any "quid pro quo" arrangements with donors despite months of headlines highlighting alleged schemes involving donors like a NJ-based company that got a $637 million, no-bid contract amid $300,000 donations from its founder and his family.

"There's no pay to play corruption," Hochul declared.

Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin hit each other with guilt by association.

During the feisty debate, Hochul called Zeldin, the Long Island congressman, one of Donald Trump's "strongest and most loyal supporters" who supported the ex-president's bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Zeldin swung back, saying Hochul selected Brian Benjamin as her first lieutenant governor -- who was forced to resign after getting indicted for alleged campaign finance corruption and who was the "architect of cashless bail law" when he was state senator.

"Yeah, that guy who got arrested and had to resign. That was her first big decision to make him the lieutenant governor," he said.

The Democratic incumbent says she is providing answers in a state where affordable housing is increasingly out of reach for New Yorkers no matter the price.

"I go to more ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings from the Bronx to Brooklyn to Rochester and Buffalo," Hochul said while talking about plans to create 100,000 new housing units.

Zeldin did not go into specifics while blasting his opponent for policies he claims were killing the "New York Dream" by driving people to other states like North Carolina.

"In Kathy Hochul's New York, you can either have your first kid in the basement of mom and dad's house or you can move to another state," Zeldin said.

Gov. Hochul appeared to revise her message on the fear felt by New Yorkers amid a recent series of terrifying subway slayings.

"I understand the fear. I walk the streets of New York City every day. I've taken the subways. This fear is real," she said.

On Monday, Hochul tried to downplay worries about surging crime by highlighting a subway-safety program she announced Saturday with Mayor Eric Adams.

“All it is is a cooperative effort to respond to, you know, the high-profile instances which have created a sense of fear in people’s minds,” she said then.

The governor's about-face came after NY1 anchor Errol Louis asked if she had a message for New Yorkers "who are frightened for their safety and believe the latest initiative is too little too late."

Both candidates say Hizzoner is on their side!

Zeldin invoked the New York City mayor and his support for overhauling state bail laws while attacking Hochul over her resistance to calling state lawmakers back in Albany for a special session.

The Democratic incumbent meanwhile claimed her ties to Adams, who has endorsed her in the race, are matters more to voters, considering how much better she and Adams get along compared to their predecessors infamously dysfunctional relationship.

"'Let's work together' – never heard that before," Hochul said.