Nate McMurray thinks Becky Wydysh owes it to voters to debate him before the November general election in the 145th State Assembly District.
Whether she’ll take him up on his repeated offers remains to be seen, but McMurray, the endorsed Democrat in the race, is tired of waiting for an answer.
The former Town of Grand Island supervisor announced on his campaign’s Facebook page last week that he’s already set a date, Oct. 29, and booked a venue, The Falconwood Events Center in Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island.
All he needs is Wydysh, if she’ll come.
“We’re going to take it seriously,” McMurray said. “If she shows up, we’ll talk about the issues. If she’s not there, it’s her fault. I tried every way possible to get her to do a debate and she refused.”
Wydysh previously declined an invitation to participate in a forum at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute in Buffalo.
In a recent interview with the Niagara Gazette, she said her participation in any future public forum with McMurray would depend on the “scenario” and the moderators involved. She also said she’s not interested in engaging with McMurray’s “negativity” or “drama.”
As an example of why she questions his behavior, Wydysh cited a recent encounter between McMurray and Roger Trevino, the long-time executive vice president of the private firm Niagara Falls Redevelopment. The two men were captured on video exchanging words during last month’s Niagara Falls NAACP awards dinner. McMurray, who has been vocal in his criticism of NFR’s track record in the Falls, later posted the video on his campaign Facebook page.
While McMurray encourages people to watch the video because it shows Trevino acting as the aggressor, not the other way around, Wydysh said the incident highlights concerns she has about her challenger.
“I have worked too hard in my career and my life as a woman to be on stage and be disrespected,” Wydysh said.
“I’d rather be out knocking on doors and engaging in the community,” she added.
McMurray said Wydysh is attempting to draw out of the old GOP playbook while trying to paint him as an unhinged radical instead of addressing the real issue — her concern about being able to hold her own against him while discussing issues that matter to voters in the district.
“The whole thing is just a scare tactic. Scare. Scare. Scare,” McMurray said. “How is she going to stand up for people in Albany if she can’t even debate me?”
McMurray said he believes Wydysh owes it to New York voters and taxpayers to engage in a public debate because she has accepted funds for her campaign as part of New York’s new Public Campaign Finance System.
The program provides public matching funds for small-donor contributions made to qualified candidates running in statewide or state-elected offices. It also imposes mandatory debate requirements in some instances.
While candidates running state assembly races are exempt from the debate requirements even if they accept public funds, McMurray said Wydysh’s failure to join him in a debate, while in keeping with the rules as written, clearly goes against the “spirit” of the public campaign financing program.
“It’s not about me,” McMurray said. “The voters deserve to know what she believes and what she thinks. She can just hide and slide into office. It’s not right.”
The 145th State Assembly District includes the cities of Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda and the towns of Grand Island, Lewiston, Wheatfield, Cambria and Porter. The district has been represented by former Niagara Falls Judge Angelo Morinello, a Republican, who announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection.
Wydysh, 50, of Lewiston, served as chair of the Niagara County Legislature from 2020 through December when she stepped down to pursue the assembly seat being vacated by Morinello.
McMurray, 51, served as Grand Island town supervisor for one term from 2015 through 2019. He challenged former Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Collins in an unsuccessful bid in 2018 and followed that race with back-to-back losses to Collins’ successor in Congress, Buffalo businessman Chris Jacobs.