By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — State Attorney General frontrunner Kathleen Rice said Tuesday that her failure to vote for nearly 20 years was "a mistake" and resulted from her being busy all that time "seeking social justice."
The mea culpa came during the latest in a series of candidate debates. In recent days, Rice's voting history has been an issue since news reports surfaced that the Republican-turned-Democrat Nassau County District Attorney failed to vote for nearly two decades after she registered.
"It was a mistake and I readily admit that," Rice told an audience of business leaders gathered at the Crain's New York Business Democratic candidates' forum at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. "I was very involved in the system and seeking social justice and it took me a little longer to realize how you can achieve that, sometimes more effectively through the political process."
She added that she now spends a great deal of time speaking to young people and encouraging them to vote.
State Sen. Eric Schneiderman said the report should give voters pause. "This is a factor that I'm sure folks will take into account," he said after the forum. "I'm not sure I used the 'youthful indiscretion' phrase when I was 35."
The candidates, which also include Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, former federal prosecutor Sean Coffey and former state insurance superintendent Eric Dinallo, were also given the chance to weigh in on two of the parties most contentious figures: embattled Congressman Charles Rangel and disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Most were quick to defend Rangel's record and withhold judgment pending a full investigation. A public hearing on an ethics probe into Rangel's dealings will be held Thursday.
"For those of us who have actually worked with Rangel, this is very painful," Schneiderman said. "I hope that the allegations are not true."
While she refused to comment on the "disturbing" allegations, Rice came out more strongly, saying that, if proven true, the charges will confirm New Yorkers' beliefs that there are two sets of rules – one for public officials and one for everyone else
"That is something we have to get rid of," she said.
The candidates also applauded Spitzer for his work as attorney general.
"Everyone agrees that Eliot Spitzer was an effective attorney general," Rice said.
