tha Komatireddy, left, and Letitia James participate in the AG debate. Credit: YouTube

 She's certainly never prosecuted a sexual assault case and she's already screwed this one up,  Komatireddy said.

But James defended her handling of the matter.

 Those comments demonstrate empathy and what we need now more than ever in our body politics is empathy,  James said.

 Politics stops at the door in my office,  she added.

James had the same answer when pushed to defend her investigations of Trump and his various businesses, especially as she's under fire for firing a whistleblower who says he was forced to continue an insider trading case against the president despite findings that he didn't break a law.

 It undermined the work that we were doing,  James said of an email former Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld blasted to the whole office.

Komatireddy also ripped into James with the numbers, accusing her Medicaid fraud control unit of only collecting $19 million per year in penalties and eight convictions from bad operators, compared with the $250 million and 100 prosecutions it used to reel in.

James claims her office is focused on higher-level operators like nursing home companies, instead of going after individual providers.

Komatireddy also sniped James for touting the removal of 10,000 illegal guns from New York streets in her eight years in office.

 10,000 guns is pathetic. New Jersey seized 16,000 guns in one year,  Komatireddy claimed.

The two had vastly different outlooks on how to tackle subway crime as well as mentally ill and homeless people who often take refuge in the transit system.

3 Candidate for New York Attorney General Saritha Komatireddy offers remarks during a press conference at New Castle Town Hall in Chappaqua, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

 My opponent believes that we can go down to the subways of MTA and remove individuals who are struggling with mental illness. She wants to turn back the clock of progress and institutionalize people who are suffering from mental illness,  James charged, saying that Komatireddy doesn't understand Kendra's law, which allows judges to order someone into outpatient mental health treatment.

 What we need is to provide resources to outpatient services and psychiatric beds,  James said, noting that she's used some of the $3 billion her office helped secure as part of a settlement against opioid distributors on expanding psychiatric beds.

But Komatireddy blazed ahead, promising to establish an  Office of Civil Commitment  in order  to make sure that people who are a danger to themselves and others, like those pushing New Yorkers onto the train tracks, are brought inside. 

 We don't have a lack of authority. We don't have a lack of resources. We lack an attorney general who is willing to enforce the law. I will. 

Komatireddy made the same charge at James over antisemitism, saying she's refused to put real weight behind her office's power to prosecute hate crimes against Jews.

 This is the problem. She just stands there. She doesn't do anything,  she said, also arguing that she should use Title VI of civil rights law to go after colleges for allowing antisemitism on campuses.

 She has used it for other students but not for Jewish students who have been barricaded in libraries because of their race got no help from Tish James,  she said.

James fired back, arguing that she's built ties with Orthodox communities from when she used to represent Crown Heights and Williamsburg on the city council.

But the Brooklyn pol wouldn't say whether she thinks Mayor Zohran Mamdani's city hall or other entities should adopt a standard definition of antisemitism, something critics say has legally prevented hate crimes against Jews from being sufficiently identified and prosecuted.

 We are looking at the definition of antisemitism,  James weakly said.

The incumbent tried to pin down Komatireddy and force her to voice her disagreements several times during Thursday night's engagement hosted by NY1/Spectrum News, but the GOP pol seemed more than happy to point out those disagreements.

Komatireddy said she'd defend New York's abortion laws, would sue to ensure grant money flows like the funds frozen for homeland security grants last year, and fight any federal attempts to federalize or wrestle control of state election processes.

She also said she'd even follow through on her duty to defend New York laws she doesn't agree with - like newly passed anti-ICE legislation.

To wrap up the night, James was unable to name her favorite former New York Attorney General, first blurting out  all  the former AG's.

 Actually, I support and work closely with Bob Abrams,  she quickly interjected before moderators wrapped the program.