Nothing became quite so clear in the debate between Governor Hochul and Congressman Zeldin than the emergence of crime — Mr. Zeldin’s signature issue — as the no. 1 issue in the New York gubernatorial race.

The Democratic incumbent and Republican challenger went into their debate much closer together in the polls than anyone would have predicted at the outset of their race. The debate covered housing, cryptocurrency, marijuana, gambling, President Trump, immigration, and the economy.

No topic loomed larger than crime, though, and the two candidates’ messages could not be more different, with each trying to present as the best person to handle the situation. Mr. Zeldin accused Ms. Hochul and her administration of passing “pro-criminal” policies, focusing squarely on New York’s cashless bail law.

“I am running to take back our streets and to support unapologetically our men and women in law enforcement,” Mr. Zeldin said. The Republican also reiterated a point he has made on the campaign trail: that he would remove the district attorney of New York County, Alvin Bragg, declare a state of emergency on crime, and suspend the new bail laws if elected.

Although Mr. Zeldin came out swinging on crime, he was caught flat-footed when the governor parried his criticism by questioning whether he would also suspend New York’s protections on abortion. “You can’t run from your record,” Ms. Hochul said. 

“You’re the only person standing on this stage,” she added, “whose name right now, not years past, right now, is on a bill called ‘Life Begins at Conception.’” She also compared his intent to remove the democratically elected district attorney to his vote, as a member of Congress, against certifying the 2020 presidential election.

Although Mr. Zeldin denied that he would be defeated in this election, saying that “losing is not an option,” he did say that he would abide by the results. In discussions on crime, Mr. Zeldin made overtures to New York’s Asian and Jewish communities, whose members have increasingly been the victim of hate crimes in recent months.

While Mr. Zeldin focused on bail laws, Ms. Hochul directed attention to her efforts to get off the streets illegally obtained firearms and firearms trafficked from out of state, including her coordination with the leaders of nine states to track trafficked firearms.

“You can work on keeping people scared or keeping people safe,” Ms. Hochul said. “There is no crime fighting plan if it doesn’t include guns — illegal guns.”

The governor’s focus on criminally obtained or trafficked guns drew away from the question of what will happen with New York’s latest gun control legislation, the Conceal Carry Improvement Act, which looks likely to be at least partly overturned in court.

When asked about the topic, Ms. Hochul insisted that it was the Supreme Court that changed, not the constitutionality of New York’s 111-year-old law. Mr. Zeldin insisted that the Sullivan Law the Supreme Court cashiered was always unconstitutional and that the Concealed Carry Improvement Act is unconstitutional as well.

Beyond crime and guns, the two candidates drew contrasting positions over their economic plans and visions for the government’s role in the future of New York’s economy. Ms. Hochul touted the new Micron semiconductor plant coming to Syracuse, which the governor helped secure with a $5.5 billion incentive that will be tied to milestones over the life of the project.

According to Ms. Hochul, the project will bring more than 50,000 jobs to the state, about 9,000 of which will pay upward of $100,000 according to Micron. Much of the project is also eligible to be subsidized by the $52 billion authorized by the Chips Act at the federal level, though the company cannot apply for funding via the new law until next year.

Mr. Zeldin on the other hand insisted repeatedly that it was not the role of the government to pick winners and losers in the economy and instead proposed cutting taxes as the way to help spur development.

He also proposed passing a spending cap for the state government, though he did not specify which state programs he would be willing to cut as governor, except for a renegotiation of the Bills stadium deal. Specifically, Mr. Zeldin accused the governor of picking winners and losers with the $850 million that the governor helped orchestrate to go to a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills.

Ms. Hochul retorted that it was the only way to keep the team in New York state. She said that a former Republican governor of New York, George Pataki, had praised her for her efforts to keep the team in-state.

Although neither candidate delivered a debate performance that is likely to have much effect on increasingly tight polling or transform their public images, Mayor Adams did chime in with a mid-debate endorsement.

“New Yorkers deserve safety and justice, and we can’t compromise on either,” he tweeted. “Kathy Hochul is the only candidate for Gov who will stand up to extremists and back common sense gun laws that keep our communities safe.”