But even before the high-stakes clash begins, a predebate battle is being waged — over the temperature dial.

Nixon’s team has publicly accused the debate host, WCBS-TV, of catering to all of the governor’s demands to land the debate, and they are concerned that the debate hall at Hofstra University on Long Island might feel like an ice rink when they arrive. (Cuomo is famous for preferring to make his public appearances in deeply chilled conditions.)

So in a pre-emptive strike, Rebecca Katz, a top strategist for Nixon, asked WCBS-TV in an email last week that the debate hall be warmed to 76 degrees.

Katz wrote that working conditions are “notoriously sexist when it comes to room temperature, so we just want to make sure we’re all on the same page here,” according to a copy of her email obtained by The New York Times.

Katz said Tuesday she had yet to hear back from WCBS-TV, and that 76 degrees was just an opening offer to ensure the temperatures were not uncomfortably cold. The Cuomo campaign said it was unaware of what temperature the room would be. The station declined to comment.

Back in May, Nixon challenged Cuomo to multiple debates but Cuomo has agreed to just this one encounter, with barely two weeks before the primary. “CBS was very frank with us that they really didn’t have a choice — that these were his demands and if they were not acceded to, he wouldn’t show up,” Nixon said this month.

The debate is scheduled for 1 hour, with no opening or closing statements, according to people briefed on the format, with candidates given 2 minutes to answer questions and 1 minute for rebuttals.

Katz said the Nixon campaign has been told candidates will be seated at separate desks, decorated with drapery, when the debate begins — a format, she noted, that would dispense with the customary opening handshake and one that mirrors “Cuomo’s preferred style of press conference.”

Katz said that Cuomo four years ago would not shake his opponent’s hand, referring to a viral video from 2014 of an aide physically blocking then-challenger Zephyr Teachout from greeting the governor at a parade.

“This time we were finally given the opportunity to debate but only by his rules, including no handshake,” Katz said.

Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for Cuomo, responded, “The Nixon campaign thrives on paranoia and melodrama, and these silly accusations are more of the same. They can debate about debates, but the governor is focused on having a substantive, in-depth discussion about the issues facing New York.”

Both candidates have been preparing for the clash seriously, according to people close to or involved in the campaigns, as it is the first-ever political debate for Nixon, the longtime actress and activist, and the first one-on-one primary debate for Cuomo since 2002. Nixon spent her Monday preparing in New York City; Cuomo spent part of his day doing the same in Albany.

Cuomo’s debate team has included, to various degrees, Maggie Moran, his campaign manager; Smith, a political consultant who played Hillary Clinton in Martin O’Malley’s mock presidential debate sessions; Larry Schwartz, his former top aide, and Justin Lapatine of Global Strategy Group, according to people familiar with the planning.

Jim Malatras, the governor’s former top policy adviser, and Melissa DeRosa, his current top aide, both have taken time away from their government jobs to help, as well.

Cuomo flashed one of his potential answers at an unrelated news conference on Monday when asked about whether he would return past campaign contributions from President Donald Trump, an issue Nixon’s campaign has pounded.

“Why would I do that? I am using the money to defeat Donald Trump. I’m not giving Donald Trump back his money,” Cuomo said.

People who have worked with Cuomo on debate preparation say the governor loves the game-theory element of predicting what questions will be asked, how his opponent will answer and how he can respond. He likes to spitball with staff and study how to frame his policy achievements. As far back as 1996, Cuomo was part of the team that advised Vice President Al Gore on debate preparation.

Supporters say the main imperative for Cuomo is to avoid any major mistakes or to lose his cool with Nixon, who is expected to be the aggressor on stage. Asked on Monday how he was preparing, Cuomo had a two-word answer.

“By governing,” he said.

For Nixon, whose campaign has been unable to afford any television ads or narrow a wide deficit in public opinion polls, the debate likely offers her biggest audience yet — but with the tough challenge of both proving her qualifications as a first-time candidate and knocking Cuomo on his heels.

The moderators will be Maurice DuBois, a WCBS-TV co-anchor, and Marcia Kramer, the station’s top political correspondent, who has covered Cuomo for decades — “No more questions from Marcia Kramer,” he joked, at an event on Monday — and moderated his 2002 primary debate for governor.

WCBS-TV declined to make either moderator available ahead of the debate.

As for Nixon, she said she will be there seated, standing, whatever.

“I was really looking forward to going toe to toe with Andrew Cuomo. I guess we’ll be seated,” she said. “I guess we’ll be going tush to tush.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Shane Goldmacher © 2018 The New York Times