By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Attorney General candidate Dan Donovan admitted Friday to accepting illegal campaign contributions and vowed to give the money back during one of the first major debates of the general election.
Recent reports have called into question an estimated $75,000 in campaign contributions received by the Staten Island district attorney's campaign.
Pressed on the issue by fired-up Democratic challenger Sen. Eric Schneiderman, Donovan admitted the campaign had inadvertently accepted amounts that were above those permitted, and promised to give the money back.
"We're going to return whatever the excess money," he said, adding that his team intends to follow all election rules.
In their first debate, taped at the ABC studios on the Upper West Side and set to air Sunday at 11 a.m., Schneiderman and Donovan went head-to-head on everything from the MTA fare hikes to whether they'd been bullied as kids.
In one of the hour's strongest lashings, Schneiderman railed against the MTA, which announced a new fare hike Thursday.
Schneiderman said the MTA has been a "wasteland" of mismanagement and would be a prime target if he wins.
"I can't wait to get in there as attorney general and clean it up," he said, adding he believes he can bring costs down.
Throughout the debate, Schneiderman painted himself as an activist who will use the office to weigh in on national debates, pushing for women's reproductive rights, gay marriage and immigration reform.
He also repeatedly praised Andrew Cuomo, invoking the Democratic gubernatorial candidates' name at least five times.
Donovan, meanwhile, knocked Schneiderman as too close to Albany and questioned his independence.
"Do you want somebody as the next attorney general who's been an Albany insider for the last 12 years, or somebody who has no ties to any of the special interests or the legislators in our state government?" he asked.
If elected, Donovan said he will dedicate his office to rooting out public corruption because New Yorkers "are tired of their state government being a national joke on 'Saturday Night Live' every week."
But one thing Donovan refused to weigh in on was his GOP ticket-mate, Buffalo developer Carl Paladino, citing a rule that prohibits sitting DAs from making endorsements.
Schneiderman knocked Donovan for "hiding behind" the rule, and said New Yorkers have a right to know where he stands on Paladino's "crazy proposals" and "offensive hate speech."
The debate came the same day as a new Quinnipiac poll showing Schiederman now leads Donovan by 11 points, 43 percent to 32.
Still, 24 percent of voters polled said they remain undecided, while 39 percent said they might change their minds.
But a beating might be something new to Donovan, who said he'd never been bullied up as a kid, while Schneiderman admitted he had.
"I have not been bullied, but I have also not bullied anyone either," he assured.
In recent days, Schneiderman has received the endorsements of Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Republican former attorney general Bob Abrams. Donovan, meanwhile, has the support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former mayor Ed Koch.
Following the debate, Koch stood next to Donovan and told reporters he crossed the aisle to endorse the Republican in part to keep his party in check.
"Since most of the seats in the state will be held by Democrats, I want to see somebody looking over their shoulders from the other party," he said.
But Public Advocate Bill de Blasio disputed the idea that a Republican is what's needed.
"The best check and balance is an attorney general who's been working to stop corruption and been a voice of reform, and Eric will do that," he said.
