Tyler Pager at The New York Times fact checks the debate Oct. 23 between Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Marc Molinaro for governor. Pager writes that Cuomo's claim that state spending has not exceeded two percent growth is not true. “Our increases are now down to 2 percent,” Cuomo said during the debate, even though the Citizens Budget Commission reports that the budget for fiscal year 2019 increased 4.5 percent. Cuomo also incorrectly said, “I passed seven budgets on-time, in a row,” even though, in 2017, the budget was six days late. Pager writes that both Molinaro and Cuomo are now downplaying their past opposition to medical marijuana legalization. Molinaro has tried to distance himself from President Donald Trump, while Cuomo wants to make the ties clear. The Times reports that the president’s brother, Robert Trump, hosted a fund-raiser in 2015 for Molinaro for his re-election campaign for Dutchess County Executive, and that Molinaro posts photos with Trump family members on social media using the slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Read the full story in The New York Times.