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As both Riley and Oberacker inch closer to Election Day, no public debate has been scheduled, which has been a point of contention between the candidates.

A local media consortium, including the Times Union, WMHT, WAMC, and WNYT Channel 13, attempted to arrange a debate between the candidates to no avail, despite exhaustive attempts.

Oberacker's campaign team agreed to the debate, while Riley's team told WMHT that they couldn't make it work.

When asked about this, Riley responded that his time would be better spent at community voter events.

I believe that my time is best spent directly with voters, going out to as many community events as possible and being with voters.

Oh, thank you for asking.

Feeding the American Revolution will premiere on December 8th, and it's with WMHT, and that's up here.

That's a New York PBS affiliate.

And so I'd worked with this team earlier on a project about the American landscape and the Hudson River School artist Susie Barstow.

Election Day is just one month away, and we wanted to bring you a deep dive on the race for New York's 20th congressional district representative.

WMHT, along with the Upstate Debate Consortium, will be hosting a live debate with the candidates, Representative Paul Tonko and challenger Ralph Ambrosio on Thursday, October 15th at 7 p.m.

In preparation for the debate, I spoke with a slew of voters, political strategists and the candidates themselves to understand the issues of the district and what's at stake in this year's midterm elections.

In this next segment, we'll start with a deep dive on Representative Paul Tonko's campaign, and then we will unpack the efforts from his challenger, Ralph Ambrosio.

But most importantly, I could rely and trust in his judgment.

The public service is in his DNA.

Vacco told WMHT that he hadn't spoken to Ralph since he announced his campaign for Congress, but wished him well heading into election day.

I think that he would do a great job in Congress if the voters of the 20th district decides to elect him.

You go through the song and dance, you know, and once they do the bit, they disappear.

Empire State Development, which oversees the MWBE program, said in a statement sent to WMHT that they are committed to ensuring MWBEs remain a driving economic force.

Irizarry says that while he does not qualify for MWBE certification as a non-profit, he has been impacted firsthand by state dollars, highlighting why it is so important for businesses to have fair access.

Irizarry is currently utilizing a $1.25 million state award to repair their roof and expand their kitchen.

This year, state lawmakers passed a bill aiming to provide more time for certain certification applications.

The bill passed both houses and currently awaits the governor's review.

In a comment sent to WMHT, a spokesperson from the governor's office said the governor will review the legislation.

State lawmakers are also looking at legislation aiming to address prompt payments to MWBEs.