Cynthia answered questions at length from the 700 attendees, sitting next to an empty chair reserved for the Governor

NEW YORK, NY – Last night, Governor Cuomo refused to attend a forum in his own backyard, blowing off over 700 Westchester residents who came to hear him and Cynthia Nixon speak. The Governor was even afforded the opportunity to Skype into the event and he declined. As a result, at the start of the event, the forum organizers publicly condemned the Governor’s refusal to defend his record in any public forum or debate, with less than 7 weeks until Election Day (video).

“We all obviously are disappointed that the Governor did not show up. He had every opportunity and advanced notice to show up. He was given the opportunity to appear through Skype and chose not to. In an election this year where transparency and communication is so important obviously it’s disappointing but we’re going to turn lemons into lemonade because the latest polls show 40% of voters are undecided in terms of knowing Cynthia. So we’re going to get a chance to know her and everyone watching this stream is gonna get to know her,” said moderator Amy Siskind.

The forum was hosted by Westchester Black Political Conference; Westchester Women’s Democratic Alliance; Up2Us; Progressive Women of Pelham; Indivisible New Rochelle; Indivisible Westchester: NYCD16 Indivisible.

Cynthia spokeswoman Lauren Hitt added, “At the point that the Governor declines to even skype into a forum in his own backyard, he’s going to ridiculous lengths to avoid defending his record. The Governor will run ads all over New York calling himself the ‘proven, experienced leader,’ but if he’s so secure in his record than why won’t he defend it in a debate? His own Lt. Governor knew it was important to show up last night to debate her challenger, and all the Attorney General candidates have now agreed to a debate so why won’t the Governor? New Yorkers deserve better, and they know it.”

So far, Cuomo has remained silent on his plans to debate his record before the September 13 primary. In May, Cynthia challenged Cuomo to a live, prime time, one-on-one debate and the call has gone answered for the last 81 days – a clear indicator of his contempt for a healthy democratic process.

In 2014, Cuomo skipped a primary debate sponsored by NY1 and Time Warner Cable News in Albany. In fact, he notoriously even refused to shake the hand of his 2014 opponent. In 2010, he similarly only participated in one, seven-candidate debate in the general election.

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