Heading to the home turf of her opponent, Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday played up the power of her incumbency at an economic development announcement.

Meanwhile, the governor defended her decision to take part in only one debate next month.

Dipping onto Long Island six weeks before Election Day, Hochul arrived with money to dole out.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday made $10 million available for medical research on Long Island, a key battleground area in this year's election 

  • The money was part of a $350 million fund for Long Island created as part of contentious budget negotiations earlier this year 

  • Hochul also defended only agreeing to one debate 

In this case, it was $10 million in state dollars for a research arm of Northwell Health to grow its lab work. The money came from a larger fund set up during budget negotiations earlier this year.

“So, we decided that we didn’t have the exact projects at the time in the budget — why not set aside a fund, of being able to find and allocate $350 million for projects that will help the regional economy right here on Long Island?” Hochul said.

The $350 million is known as the Long Island Investment Fund. Critics at the time referred to it as a “slush fun” to help Hochul win over critical Long Island lawmakers who were unhappy with some of the governor's other spending priorities, like a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills.

Hochul downplayed the notion that making the announcement about the $10 million this month had anything to do with election year politics in Zeldin's territory.

“You’ve seen events with me on Long Island since my first couple of weeks on the job,” Hochul said. “This is a continuation of our investment all throughout New York state. But I have been here to announce off-shore wind initiatives, we’ve been her to talk about our hurricane preparedness, we’ve been here to talk about our pothole initiative. I did a 'State of the State' address here, all prior to any competition related to Long Island.”

Last week, Hochul agreed to one debate against Zeldin, who as of Tuesday, had not said whether he would take part in the debate.

Hochul said it was not uncommon for previous governors to only do one debate prior to the general election.

“I think if you look at history, let’s say the last 40 years, there has always been one debate for the general election. I already participated in two debates this year. So, we are looking forward to showing up,” Hochul said.

Hochul’s predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, only took part in one general election debate in his three elections, but in past years, other governors have done more.

And that one, and so far only debate, will take place Oct. 25 on Spectrum News/NY1. It will be held at Pace University.