In the four-way contest for the Democratic nod for attorney general, much of the focus has been on how the candidates will combat President Donald Trump's policies. Leecia Eve compared him to Big Brother in the novel 1984.

“Donald Trump. So much double speak. 1984 is his playbook,” said Eve.

But the AG candidates have in recent weeks also sought to focus on fighting public corruption closer to home: At the state Capitol in Albany.

“The attorney general should be front and center arguing for primary jurisdiction for public corruption. There should be a Martin Act for public corruption and the attorney general should lead it,” AG candidate Sean Patrick Maloney (D) said.

The Martin Act gives the state attorney general's office expansive powers to fight financial wrongdoing. The office's ethics oversight powers are more limited.

Maloney says an overhaul is needed, starting with scrapping the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

“The attorney general has to be a leader in this effort and the key thing to that requires legal change is a complete reform of JCOPE so you have total independence and the ability to bring real cases,” said Maloney.

Zephyr Teachout, endorsed by The New York Times editorial board this week, has also been critical of the ethics watchdog JCOPE. But she has also linked corruption to sexual harassment in Albany. Teachout as AG would seek the power to investigate and prosecute sexual misconduct cases.

“Covering up both corruption and serious sexual misconduct. Hearings alone won't solve the problem. You can't fix a broken bone with an x-ray, but you can't find that broken bone without that x-ray,” said Teachout.

New York City Public Advocate Tish James has been endorsed by a range of establishment figures, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But she insists she can remain an independent attorney general capable of investigating the governor.

“By my nature I'm an outsider. I've never been at the table. The bottom line is I continue to stand up to the establishment and I consider myself a reform and a progressive,” James (D) said.

But Trump looms large in the race. On Monday, James called for a special session of the Legislature to pass a bill that would block Trump from pardoning those convicted of crimes in New York.