Candidates For Governor Debate: What to Watch For

BRISTOL, RI — With the general election less than six weeks away, three candidates will square off Thursday night in the first televised gubernatorial debate.

The debate between Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo, Republican Mayor Allan Fung of Cranston and independent Joe Trillo will air live at 7 p.m. on WPRI 12. The debate will also stream live at WPRI 12's website. This first debate is at Roger Williams University and will be moderated by WPRI 12 reporters Tim White and Ted Nesi.

The debate comes a week after a WPRI 12/Roger Williams University poll showed that Raimondo is favored by 43 percent of respondents, Fung by 36 percent and Trillo, a former Republican state representative, 7 percent. Another 9 percent of voters were undecided.

What to Watch For

Since winning her September primary, Raimondo's strategy has been to paint Fung as a Republican who will blindly support President Donald Trump. The strategy is likely to continue Thursday evening, especially since Trump lost Rhode Island in the 2016 election by 16 points.

"We know he (Fung) doesn't have the courage to stand up to President Trump, who wants to take away Rhode Islanders' health care and drill off the coast of Rhode Island for oil," Raimondo told supporters after winning her primary.

The Raimondo campaign on Wednesday continued to play up the association between Fung and Trump, claiming that Fung's support of Trump will put affordable health care for Rhode Islanders at risk.

"We have near universal health coverage and the lowest ACA (Affordable Care Act) premiums in America," campaign adviser Mike Raia said in a statement, "Allan Fung’s strong support for Donald Trump will put all of that at risk, and hardworking Rhode Islanders could get hurt. Thousands of Cranston residents count on the ACA for health coverage, but when their access to care was on the line last year, Mayor Fung refused to stand up and do take any action to protect them."

Fung has continuously tried to distance himself from Trump. He told ABC News that Raimondo's claim isn't true and that she is deflecting to run away from her own record.

Some pundits have said that if Fung disavows Trump, he risks losing votes to Trillo, who served as an honorary chair on Trump's presidential campaign.

Since election night, however, Fung's focus has been on tax cuts for small businesses and security upgrades for Rhode Island schools. He has promised $30,000 for every Rhode Island school for security upgrades.

During a press conference Wednesday at a Cranston barber shop, Fung told reporters the state for too long has treated the small business “like an ATM machine.”

“Gone will be the days of providing taxpayer subsidies to a few select Fortune 500 companies while forgetting about the heart and soul of our state's economy, " Fung said. "We should concentrate our efforts on small businesses, and leverage dollars to ensure that they have the access to capital that they need to be successful."

Photo credit: Paul Morigi / Stringer