GOV. DEBATE SET FOR SUNDAY

The first debate between an incumbent New York governor and his
challengers in well over a decade is scheduled to take place Sunday on
WABC-TV.

Invited to participate in the debate are not only Republican Gov.
George Pataki and his Democratic challenger, State Comptroller H. Carl
McCall, but also five third-party candidates. One, Independence
candidate Tom Golisano, is well known from the more than $30 million
in advertising he has bought on the state's airwaves.

The others are probably not as familiar to the general public, but all
will be on the ballot because their parties got at least 50,000 votes
in the last election. They are: Gerard Cronin, the Right-to-Life
candidate; Stanley Aronowitz, the Green candidate; Thomas Leighton,
the Marijuana Reform Party candidate; and Scott Jeffrey, the
Libertarian candidate.

The 90-minute debate, sponsored by ABC and the Daily News, airs at 11
a.m. Sunday.

- -- Jordan Rau